Let’s talk about death. It won’t kill you - Vivid Art After Hours

Wednesday 30 May: Vivid presents: Let’s talk about death. It won’t kill you.

Over three successive Wednesdays, Vivid Sydney will take over the gallery to create an intimate portrait of our better selves. Tonight, we explore and celebrate our own mortality, investigating issues of life and death. Join psychologists from The GroundSwell Project and the Indigo Project to explore how to approach death differently and inject creativity, humour and individuality into this very personal last passage. The evening also includes a 20 minute mass death and grieving meditation, a curated tour and music by Goldheist.

5.30pm – 6pm
Guided Tour: Moving Toward Stillness.

Can art help us express some of the emotions and difficult feelings we struggle to discuss openly? Join University of Technology Sydney Researcher Dr Gail Kenning and AGNSW Access Programs Producer Danielle Gullotta on a tour of selected artworks that prompt us to reflect on the end of life and matters of care.
Meet at the information desk

6.30pm - 7pm
Conversation: Let’s talk about death. It won’t kill you.

Join us for a conversation that celebrates life and considers how we deal with dying. How can we approach our final days and eventual demise in new ways? Kerrie Noonan and Mary Hoang encourage us to move beyond clinical attitudes to death and bring creativity, humour and individuality into this very personal last passage.

Kerrie Noonan is the director of The GroundSwell Project, a clinical psychologist in palliative care and an end-of-life researcher. The GroundSwell Project educates people about how they can approach death differently and works with communities to build death literacy.

Mary Hoang is a psychologist/artist who thinks deeply about what makes humans lead more meaningful lives. Founding The Indigo Project in 2012, Mary is now an in-demand teacher helping people to unlock potential and enhance their mindset. Mary specialises in working with life transitions. The Indigo Project that has taken on the role of mental health education, community building and providing support to Sydneysiders. By using therapy rooms, immersive experiences, music and art, The Indigo Project helps people to understand concepts like death, transformation, anxiety, self-love and forgiveness.

It’s time to make talking about death a normal part of life. This is a chance to explore end-of-life options and the possibilities that can support us to live well until our last breath.

Entrance court
This talk will be Auslan interpreted.

7.30pm, 8pm and 8.30pm  (20 minute experiences).

Transience: A Ceremony for Past Relationships

By The Indigo Project

Grief encompasses so much more than the loss of life. When we look closer, we are all experiencing the cycles of life and death across many aspects of our lives; the evolution of our attitudes, belief systems, emotions, friendships and relationships.
Letting go is important - but it's hard. How do we deal with the baggage that we carry around every day, without knowledge of the rituals and tools to support change in our lives?

Transience: A Ceremony for Past Relationships by The Indigo Project is a 20 minute experience where we will partake in a modern day ritual. You will have the opportunity to release a person or situation in your life that no longer serves you. Whether that be an ex, an old friendship, or an incident that has caused you pain, begin to process the past with this unique experience by The Indigo Project founder and psychologist, Mary Hoang.

It's time to let go.
Funeral dressings supplied by The House - Funeral Directors
Note: This experience may not be suitable for those currently grieving the death of a loved one.

“Places are limited. Tickets will be distributed on the night, from 5.30pm at the information desk.”

Contemporary galleries, Lower Level 2
This event will be Auslan interpreted.

7.30pm – 8.30pm
Live music: Goldheist

When words fail, music speaks. In a vibrant synthesis of expression, storytelling and sharing, Goldheist collaborates with Auslan interpreters to bring her songs and stories to life through music and movement. Discover the performance power of sign-language when it is used to convey the passion and poetry of Goldheist's lyrics.

Goldheist and her band — comprising vocals, piano, strings and percussion — are visually and sonically arresting. This inclusive event opens up the musical world of Goldheist to members of the deaf community. For the broader community, this magnificent collaboration heightens awareness of the incredible resilience within the deaf community, and the unwavering power of humanity to communicate with one another through multidimensional means.
Entrance court

Please join us on Wed 6 June to hear Lenore Taylor, Editor of the Guardian and social researcher Rebecca Huntley discuss whether it is possible to find common ground on hot button topics amongst diverse Australians and how to move beyond your own “filter bubble”.  More info

Please join us on Wed 13 June for the last of our series exploring the intersection of technology, sex and pleasure.  More info