Normally, death is an intergenerational gift. The bodies and ashes of the dead usually provide nutrients to microbial communities, plants, fungi, and animals. Modern mortuary practices seek to intervene in regenerative ecological cycles--isolating and alienating the human body from multispecies communities. At the same time, innovation in the biomedical sciences has become dependent on the death of millions of animals.

In the context of the exhibition Raconter la mort - Telling death, this talk by Eben Kirksey, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, known for his work on multispecies ethnography, will engage with a number of artworks to consider new practices of responsibility in life and death.

https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-eben-kirksey