Navigating loss: from the end of life to the end of the world

A conversation between Simona Corso (Roma Tre), Sandra Moog (Essex), Florian Mussgnug (UCL) Zoe Papadopoulu, and Aarathi Prasad (UCL). Chaired by Harriet O’Neill (BSR)

From the end of life to the end of the world: in an age of mass extinction, climate change, new pandemics, and the undoing of democracy the sources of our grief are multiplying. Hosted by University College London and the British School at Rome, this event builds on the Wellcome-funded work of artist Zoe Papadopoulou: Grief – A Work in Progress. It asks a series of timely and difficult questions. In an age of illness and uncertainty, how do the experience of loss and the anticipation of grief affect our sense of self? How do they transform our interactions with others and the world? Since 2019, the Griefmobile – a 1974 Fiat ambulance that has been converted into a touring archive and workshopping space – has been travelling around the UK and Europe, to hospices and GP practices, art galleries and science museums, schools and universities. In conversation with Harriet O’Neill (BSR), Zoe Papadopoulou and her multidisciplinary international team of collaborators reflect on this important, ongoing project, and on the wealth of testimonies that is has been documenting, cataloguing and curating.

Being Human is led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. This international festival promotes public engagement with humanities research, specifically highlighting the ways in which the humanities can inspire and enrich our everyday lives, help us to understand ourselves, our relationships with others, and the challenges we face in a changing world. The theme this year is ‘New Worlds’.