Death Cafe

In summer 2025, I was in Benin and went to my paternal grandmother’s grave, visiting it for the first time since she died some years ago. Her grave is not just a stone in the ground of a cemetery, but a room within her family’s house, a place where life continues to unfold with death resting beneath us. With my brother, my aunt and my grand mothers’s siblings, we settled in the room, removed the dust, sat, chatted and performed rituals and prayers for her soul to continue resting in peace and wisdom. There, in the presence of her spirit, […]

In summer 2025, I was in Benin and went to my paternal grandmother’s grave, visiting it for the first time since she died some years ago. Her grave is not just a stone in the ground of a cemetery, but a room within her family’s house, a place where life continues to unfold with death resting beneath us. With my brother, my aunt and my grand mothers’s siblings, we settled in the room, removed the dust, sat, chatted and performed rituals and prayers for her soul to continue resting in peace and wisdom. There, in the presence of her spirit, […]