Imaginaires et gestes de la mort en cendres: une recherche-création pour explorer la dispersion hors des cimetières et des jardins du souvenir

Abstract. In this article, based on an ongoing research-creation project, we take a look at practices that are emerging outside the traditional funeral framework : the scattering of human ashes in “natural” spaces not set aside to accommodate human remains. Because these practices invoke questions of space, gesture, communication and symbolism, and touch on intimate and creative dimensions of the experiences of the bereaved in new environments and situations, we need to rely on open and receptive methods of investigation, collection and analysis in order to identify and study these new developments. We present an experimental method combining the artistic and scientific practices, developed in several complementary stages. Firstly, a collection of micro-narratives of experiences of dispersal, gathered anonymously via an online form that is still open to this day, which will give us access to people's subjective perceptions and reflections, and allow us to explore what is currently being done and thought within individual and family contexts. An initial classification by theme has been proposed, categorizing the range of ways we have of dealing with the dead, and questioning what these ways say about loss and absence, but also about our capacity to reinvent the practice of mourning. Secondly, workshops sessions in which we re-enacted a number of these collected micro-narratives in order to articulate perceptions that had been passed over in silence in the micro-narratives themselves and reflect on the ways these practices are shared in vivo. While the ultimate aim of this ongoing research-creation project is to add to the body of scientific knowledge around death and ashes (practices, imaginaries, gestures, impact on design, site management, public policy, citizenship, etc.), to achieve this, it aims to use creative methods of collection and analysis, that can best reveal the full breadth of these experiences. In this article, we share some of the initial methodological and scientific results of these exploratory approaches.