On Grief, Loss & Ritual

Designed by Europa, the zine features creative responses from artists R.I.P. Germain, Every Ocean Hughes and Priya Jay, with a translation of Jay’s text into Gujarati facilitated by Neasden Temple, poems by Nisha Ramayya, and interviews with Hester Abrams of Willesden Jewish Cemetery and Manju Patel from Kilburn Library.

The zine was inspired by Library as Memorial, my commission for Kilburn Library, part of Brent 2020 Borough of Culture programme. The project responded to how Brent was so badly affected by coronavirus, and involved a bookplate has being placed in 491 books, to represent one for every victim of Covid-19 in the first wave. The zine draws on conversations about death I had with local people, and the immense sense of grief felt collectively in the last 18 months. It expands the conversation with work from artists whose practices explore grief and loss, from Every Ocean Hughes’ exploration of Queer Death, to Priya Jay’s guidance on how to hold a grief gathering.