Grief Karaoke: a new way of coping with love and loss

An exhibition in the centre of Sheffield is holding “Grief Karaoke” this weekend as a new way to help people deal with their bereavement.

This Saturday from 6-9pm, at Bloc Projects on Eyre Lane, people are invited to come along and celebrate their loved ones in a different way, by singing.

The event marks the end of Emily Simpson and Chris Alton’s latest exhibit: ‘Grief Must Be Love With Nowhere To Go’, which has been hosted in the gallery since March.

Emily Simpson said: “It’s a way of celebrating the end of the exhibition, and bringing people together. The events we’ve done as part of this exhibition so far have been small, intimate events; which has been necessary in order to create a safe space, where people feel they’ll have the room to talk about such a difficult subject. 

So we wanted to do a ‘lighter touch’ event like karaoke so we could involve more people, and open up the conversation to other forms of loss.”

The showcase is currently a display of various textiles sewn together and hung on the roof of the gallery, with various quotes embroidered on the fabric, relating to grief.

“We wanted to ‘soften’ the gallery space, make it more like a den. It was important for us to create different ways in which people could engage with the exhibition; so the publication is a space where the more ‘in depth’ conversations can happen.”

Sunshine Wong, co-director of Bloc Projects, said: “We all carry some measure of grief in us, so I think it’s important to have moments and spaces where we can dwell on those things, and our hope is to make that possible.”

They hope to see lots of people at the event on Saturday evening.

They said: “Karaoke is something we’re all pretty familiar with, and music can be so evocative of a time, place, or person. We’re inviting people to sing songs that remind them of any form of loss; bereavement, jobs, break ups, climate loss, loss of autonomy etc.

Anyone is welcome, whether they want to sing, or just cheer people on with a drink from the bar. I’m hoping people are as bad at singing as me!! But it doesn’t really matter – the main thing is about coming together, making our losses public and holding that space for others.”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Bloc Projects (@blocprojects)