About Death

How do you see death? What does it mean to you? In my surroundings, death has often been regarded as a taboo—heavy, delicate, and tied to emotions of loss and emptiness. But my experience in Bali during the summer of 2023, when an injury redirected my plans from freediving to cultural exploration, showed me a different perspective. 

With time on my hands, I connected with Nyoman, a Balinese local, who invited me to a cremation ceremony in Nusa Lembongan. I joined his family on a profound journey, partly immersing myself in two of the seven-day Ngaben, or Pitra Yadnya, a Hindu cremation ceremony. The air was filled not with sorrow but with laughter, conversation, and community—something foreign to the rather sad Western funerals I knew. Together with their entire family, I witnessed rituals steeped in tradition, each action purposeful, each gesture reverent. The ceremony, which spanned days, culminated in a parade of vibrant floats carrying the deceased toward the release of their soul. Amid the sun’s heat, euphoric chants, and the weight of bamboo structures, I saw life celebrated.

The sacred fire releases the souls from the physical body, signalling their transition to another plane. Though I missed the initial burning and didn’t witness the complete ceremony, from start to finish, I learned that death here is not seen as an end but as a continuation—an embrace of impermanence and a belief in the cyclical nature of existence.

This experience shifted my perception of the subject, replacing fear with acceptance and showing me the grace with which life and death are woven into the fabric of the Balinese way of being. It marked me deeply, giving me the ability to speak more openly about the inevitable and to see death as just the beginning of another unknown journey.

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Below are a few impressions of the exhibition.