Death Salon is returning to Los Angeles on April 26th, 2015 to the beautiful Getty Villa! The event will host many exciting guest speakers who will be discussing a variety of topics centered around death. You can join other future corpses like me and attend this event by buying tickets (they go on sale this morning, February 5th, 2015 at 9 AM Pacific time!).
Here is a description of the event from the Death Salon website:
Death Salons invite us to examine mortality and mourning through the lenses of art, history, and culture. Join an array of engaging thinkers, writers, and performers for an exploration of death rituals past and present at this special day-long event featuring talks, music, comedy, gallery visits, and other surprises.
Hear from noted scholars who study death and funerary practices, professionals who care for the dead and their loved ones, and artists and writers who explore death and mourning in their work as they share perspectives on the ultimate rite of passage.
Journey through the Getty Villa's galleries and discover monumental funerary vases, ancient grave markers, Roman sarcophagi, and a 2,000-year-old mummy. Enjoy a solo performance of voice and piano by The Mynabirds or sit in on a live recording of the What Happens When You Die? podcast. At the end of the day, join your new friends and continue the conversation over a glass of wine at a special outdoor reception.
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Check out this awesome "Future Corpse" shirt from
Order of the Good Death/Death Salon!! WANT!!
Available HERE!
Also from Death Salon/Order of the Good Death,
this awesome "Death Positive" tee!
Available via Death Salon HERE!
I seriously cannot wait! And with the recent announcement of the speakers, I am even more pumped for this event! Check out the impressive list of historians, authors, intellectuals, musicians, comedians, and more who will be presenting:
- Eric Bruehl - J. Paul Getty Museum educator with research interests in Roman burial customs and imagery
- Caitlin Doughty - mortician and New York Times best-selling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, founder of The Order of the Good Death and co-founder of Death Salon
- Jonathan Gold - Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic, Los Angeles Times
- Paul Koudounaris - art historian, photographer, and author of The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, and Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us
- Judy Melinek - medical examiner and New York Times best-selling author of Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
- Lisa Pieraccini - classics professor at the University of California, Berkeley and an authority on funerary archaeology
- Megan Rosenbloom - director and co-founder of Death Salon, and medical librarian at the University of Southern California
- David Saunders - antiquities curator and expert on death and mythology in the ancient world, J. Paul Getty Museum
- Marie Svoboda - associate conservator of antiquities and researcher of red shroud mummies from Roman Egypt, J. Paul Getty Museum
- Sarah Elizabeth Troop - Lindsay Museum curator, writer, and Death Salon social media editor
- Solo musical performance by The Mynabirds
- Live recording of the What Happens When You Die podcast hosted by Death Salon director Megan Rosenbloom and comedian Josh Androsky with surprise comedic guests.
As if the event couldn't be any more amazing, it is also being held at The Getty Villa, which houses stunning artwork and artifacts! Attendees will be able to wander the halls and grounds and soak in the atmosphere of this gorgeous museum.
Will you be there? I will and cannot wait for this unique event!
FYI - if you are on the East Coast a Death Salon will be held at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in early October 2015! I am very tempted to fly out to that one as I have always wanted to go to the Mütter!
More info on Death Salon is available on their website!