House of Sorrow

“In the spring and summer of 2013, I will put together a House of Sorrow at the Saari Residence, where grief can be handed over into nature’s care. The windows and doors of the House of Sorrow will always be open. The House will have no artificial floor; its ground will be the earth, where everything always finds its beginning and end.

Anyone can leave a work symbolizing sorrow in the house, in a manner respectful of objects left there by others. The works and objects will be left in the house and surrendered to nature’s care so that in time, they will return back to nature.

Sorrows can also be worked through in sorrow workshops. Participants are welcome to discuss their own sorrows, losses, failures and other worries weighing them down.

I will be organizing sorrow workshops for small groups. The workshops will advance at a slow pace and participants can take their time talking through their difficult experiences, worries or fears. During the workshop, we will be making small objects, each according to our own themes, which we will later leave in the House of Sorrow. Participants will be able to work through their own troubles and will provide support for each other.

After the workshop, participants can return to the House of Sorrow to cry, grieve or to just have a moment of silence. The object, gradually melting back into the cycle of nature, can act as a symbolic, consoling companion.”