About the Project
We hold blankets close to our body, to keep us warm and safe. Those that are painstakingly quilted and lovingly gifted within the family become intimate keepsakes. Ten cotton blankets with printed images and calligraphy text, some with embroidery were made and showcased for this artist-led project.
Artwork 1 – To Cherish and to Hold – For this first blanket series, personal images and text express what the participant artists hold dear of their life experience as a legacy for when they leave the world. Some blankets remember family and loved ones; some remember happy pastimes and favourite activities; and some are simple positive values about living life well.
Artwork 2 – Wind Blankets – In the second blanket series, the participant artists focused more directly on the end-of-life and how they have come to terms with death. They do this by imagining what they hope will be their last position when they die. The blankets carry these images: some are lying, some sitting, some praying, and all in their individual imagined desired worlds. Open skies, trees, flowers, and nature in general, are dominant themes. The wind blankets are hung out in the open to interact, come rain or shine, with the elements, as a reminder of the last journey in life returning symbolically to nature. Called wind blankets, their messages and wishes are hopefully blown around by the wind to be shared with all.
Overall, the artwork marries this unique funerary custom with the craft of quilt making which is often elaborate in the design and which can take months, sometimes years, to complete.The same group of participant art-makers created the blankets after spending time in a workshop contemplating the end-of-life and how to come to terms with death.
Creation Process
Eight Chong Pang residents met with artist-facilitator Shirley Soh and volunteer Foo Jong Mui over eight months to get to know one another and feel comfortable talking about the main subject of the workshop – the end-of-life and what it means for each of them.
Death conversations often started the workshop and were structured over questions to be completed such as: when I die … before I die … and I am ready/not ready to die because….. With these conversations as a stimulus for reflection, the residents first sewed and stitched cushion covers and bags in preparation for the grand finale—their ‘death’ blankets.
The first blankets were made in quilt style as they signified a personal legacy and what the residents felt was important in their lives. These blankets also acted as an epitaph for their death blankets, as they do not directly allude to death as a subject. The second blanket was made to depict the positions that residents hope to die in. Residents were encouraged to focus more directly on the end-of-life and how they have come to terms with death. As such, the blankets carry images of lying, sitting, and praying, all taking place in the individual’s imagined, desired worlds – open skies, trees, flowers, nature – were some of the dominant themes.
These wind blankets were hung in the open to interact, come rain or shine, with the elements, as a reminder of the last journey in life returning symbolically to nature. Hopefully, the residents’ messages and wishes were also blown around by the wind to be shared with all.
At the end of the workshops, residents concluded that the whole experience was more about becoming familiar with the idea of death and preparedness for death rather than facing death itself. Everyone realised that unless one is dying, thinking about death remains only a thought.
Credits
Artist
Shirley Soh was born, works and lives in Singapore. She is an artist, lecturer, an erstwhile journalist and a perpetual student. Trained first in ceramics, she has branched into various mediums spanning embroidery to video making exploring recurrent themes of biodiversity and sustainability.
Interested in how individuals, community, economy and the environment interdependently connect in constantly shifting—and not often benign—ways, she has grown plants, worked with migrant workers and prison inmates, created a retail shop and meditated for her artwork. She has exhibited in Singapore, as well as, Malaysia, Switzerland, the United States and France.
Participant Art-Makers
Goh Ning
Goh Soo Kheng
Mary Guo
Ng Ah Yam
Ong Mui Khoon
Tan Choon Huey
Tan Lu See
Tsang Sow Kuen
Foo Jong Mui (Volunteer)
Artworks
Goh Ning
Goh Soo Kheng
Mary Guo
Ng Ah Yam
Ong Mui Khoon
Tan Choon Huey
Tan Lu See
Tsang Sow Kuen
Foo Jong Mui
Shirley Soh
Workshop Process
Community Voices
“I always thought death and dying was a sensitive topic that people would usually avoid. But seeing how people in the community are willing to talk about and embrace it as part and parcel of life is really inspiring and interesting.”
