Following in the tradition of the wealthy burying live animals, slaves and wives with them alongside valuable artefacts and money, the practice of burning paper models of worldly goods to ensure the dead are well supplied in the afterlife dates back millennia.
Although less commonly practised today, this ancient funeral rite has been updated by the inclusion of paper sculptures of modern technology, fast cars and luxury items. All carefully made and then burnt as part of a ritual.
To an onlooker, the paper sculptures can be seen as a temporary, life portrait of the deceased or maybe their unfulfilled life aspirations poised to be experienced in the afterlife.
Our task was to make something from paper that represented an ancestor which we could add to a bonfire as a blessing.
However... when trying to transfer them from my phone they disappeared into the ether much earlier than planned. Thank you Angie for forwarding yours and apologies to the others - your work was beautiful too. x
Christine: I spent some very happy holidays with my grandmother who made me dresses. This is for her...
Angie: Joan of Arc just came into my head so here she is...
Dorothy: In memory of my dad who loved gardening and was a printer in the printworks, Manchester.
