Reuters North American News Service, October 18th, 2007
HONG KONG, Oct 18 (Reuters) - An exhibition seeking to ease
Chinese taboos toward death has opened in Hong Kong, featuring
"green" paper coffins and multimedia artwork, including a
coffin "simulator" giving users a 3-minute taste of death.
There was no champagne or glitz at the "Experience Death
Through Art" exhibition's opening on Thursday. Instead, the
crowd was dominated by elderly Hong Kongers who sipped
Starbucks coffee and milled around the death-themed exhibits
with walking sticks.
"In Chinese culture, death is still a taboo. Of course
attitudes have relaxed in the past 10-20 years, but for many
people, death is something better left unsaid," said Craig Au
Yeung, the curator for the show.
"I think death education is something that is very
meaningful here (in Hong Kong)," Au Yeung added.
This curatorial vision rubbed off on some elderly visitors
as they pottered about a diverse array of open caskets --
including a gold-hued Chinese paper coffin, a tiny "pet" coffin
and one fashioned out of purple cloth from South Korea.
"I came to appreciate the artwork -- after all in life
you've got to die at least once," quipped Fung Yuk-chun, 73.
"The coffins are beautiful, especially the ones from Canada
and China," said Tam Wai-ching, an 85-year-old, with a laugh.
One of the highlights of the show, was a chunky black
coffin "simulator" giving visitors a chance to clamber inside
with the lid down. A short video on death then plays in the
darkness, with a sonorous voice asking one to imagine one's own
funeral: "Without death, none of our actions have any meaning,"
it said.
"Most coffins, when you enter them, you can't step back out
again. But with ours you can," said Simon Yip, one of several
students who realised the so-called "Meet in Coffin" project.
"Through a simulation, we hope they can get the same type
of inspiration to let them appreciate life more," said Yip.
While the show's organisers expressed satisfaction at the
response -- they said a more tricky task was persuading Hong
Kongers to switch to paper coffins as a green alternative.
"Traditionally the Chinese want to use wood coffins and
have a grand cremation and sendoff. Paper seems a bit cheap,"
said Josephine Lee, an organiser who said paper coffins took
around half an hour less time to burn than the usual 90-120
minutes for a wooden coffin.
Despite costing around half a wooden coffin, Leslie Lok,
whose family has run the Kung Sau Funeral Service for several
generations -- said they were still waiting to sell their first
paper coffin, given a conspicuous lack of demand.
