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. That is why we will engage in dialogue with authors and artists creating new forms and narratives, while also examining works from the Grenoble Museum’s collections; for the “new” is often unstable, and may well turn out to have been present all along.
The guests:
- Pascal Convert, Visual artist, writer, filmmaker
- Aurélia Zahedi, Visual artist
- Sophie Zenon, Visual artist, historian, and sociologist
- Maryvonne Arnaud, Photographer, visual artist
- Eliane Umuhire, Artist
- Jérémy Damian, Dancer, anthropologist
- Laurence Loutre Barbier, Photographer, publisher at Fage Éditions, head of the alternative funeral service “Noir Clair”
- Pierre Reboul, Writer, member of the Grenoble-based collective “Morts de rue et personnes isolées” (Street Deaths and Isolated Individuals)
- Anne Carol, Historian of medicine and the body
- Martin Julier-Costes, Socio-anthropologist
- Cherry Schrecker, Sociologist
- Marc Higgin, Anthropologist
- Hélène Chaudeau, Independent funeral consultant
- Heddi Bouti, Geriatrician
- Abdel Ouacheria, Biologist and philosopher,
The moderators:
- Julia Champey, Anesthesiologist-intensivist, head of the Grenoble branch of the Medical Humanities Chair (Psychiatry-Neurosciences GHU / Sorbonne), directed by Cynthia Fleury
- Pascaline Thiollière, Architect, researcher specializing in urban planning and spaces of coexistence with the dead
- Pauline Bouchet, Associate Professor at UGA (Grenoble), director of the Arts-Health program
- 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 a series produced by Le LABORATOIRE with the support of the City of Grenoble, the City of La Tronche, the Isère Department, UGA, LabEx Architectures, and Cresson.