The Grenoble Museum is hosting and organizing—in collaboration with the laboratory linked to the University Hospital’s “Health Humanities” Chair and the Cresson_AAU research unit (CNRS, ENSAG-UGA)—a new series of conversations exploring the place of the dead within the world of the living. These dialogues bring together contemporary artists whose work reinterprets our mortal condition; healthcare professionals and practitioners who confront death and end-of-life care on a daily basis; anthropologists, philosophers, and biologists; and the general public.
It may seem paradoxical to speak of new ways of imagining death, given that it has haunted humanity since time immemorial. Yet, while the fundamental nature of the enigma remains unchanged, certain signs reveal how our representations and practices are evolving. This shift is driven by a more nuanced understanding of biological processes, as well as by the global acceleration of social change and ecosystemic instability—manifesting in everything from social media memorials dedicated to the deceased and makeshift roadside shrines to rituals adopted from other cultures or gestures that break free from established traditions.
How can we translate and share these new imaginaries within the public sphere? The presence of those who have passed away forms our matrix—our nourishing soil, that *humus* which shares its etymological roots with the words “humility” and “humanity.” No civilization could exist without this porous exchange of ideas and images passed down from one generation to the next.T hat is why we will be holding discussions with authors and artists who are developing new forms or narratives:
Pascal Convert, Visual artist, writer, filmmaker
Aurélia Zahedi, Visual artist
Sophie Zenon, Visual artist, historian, and sociologist
Eliane Umuhire, Artist
Jérémy Damian, Dancer, anthropologist
Laurence Loutre Barbier, Photographer, publisher at Fage Éditions, head of the alternative funeral service “Noir Clair”
Anne Lasseur, Art historian, head of the Saint-Laurent Archaeological Museum, Grenoble
Anne Carol, Historian specializing in medicine, the body, and death
Martin Julier-Costes, Socio-anthropologist
Cherry Schrecker, Sociologist
Serena Bindi, Anthropologist
Marc Higgin, Anthropologist
Hélène Chaudeau, Independent funeral consultant
Heddi Bouti, Gerontologist
Daniel Bougnoux, Philosopher
François Galichet, Philosopher
Abdel Ouacheria, Biologist and philosopher
The moderators:
- Julia Champey, Anesthesiologist-intensivist, head of the Grenoble branch of the “Humanities in Health” Chair
- Pascaline Thiollière, Researcher on the spatiality of death and mourning at Cresson
- Pauline Bouchet, Associate Professor at UGA (Grenoble), co-head of the “Humanities in Health” Chair
- Philippe Mouillon, Visual artist, exhibition curator, initiator of *Memento Vivere*
Since autumn 2025, the first two contemporary works produced as part of *memento vivere* have been on display at the Petit-Sablon cemetery in La Tronche, near the communal burial section. Artists participating in this November 2026 edition will be invited to conceive new works
Memento vivere is organized in partnership with the Grenoble Museum and with the support of the Isère Department, UGA, LabEx Architectures, and Cresson, with the collaboration of the Medical Humanities Chair at CHU-UGA.