WFWP Ireland - The Dignity of Death Book Launch and Art Exhibition ‘Punctum and Hauntology’

The Dignity of Death book launch and the accompanying art exhibition

"Punctum and Hauntology" invited the public to engage with Death itself as

a reality that possesses its own dignity, purpose, and transformational

potential. Dr Tina Lindhard, one of the book’s authors, shared a personal

experience that compelled her to organise a conference and bring together

diverse perspectives exploring this often-taboo subject. Her presentation

and the contributed essays reframed Death as a meaningful threshold and

opened space for previously silenced voices and reflections. Mary Ellen

McCormack’s exhibition responded to a series of postcards dated

1926–1930 that reveal the relationships, travels and experiences of four

sisters from a prominent English family who were resident in Ireland and

sympathetic to Ireland’s situation; the artworks translated those intimate

historical traces into visual meditations on memory, presence and

transcendence. The programme included author readings, an artist talk,

audience Q&A, a beautiful musical contribution by Hana Kim and a gallery

walk with light refreshments to encourage reflective, intergenerational

dialogue. Objectives were to foreground the dignity of Death itself,

stimulate cultural and spiritual conversation, and build partnerships with

arts and care organisations.