Allerzielen Alom

A place for everyone

An important component of the celebrations are the places set up for all visitors, including those whose departed are buried elsewhere, to give them a chance to commemorate their dead. For many people, a symbolic activity, of more sacredly said, a ritual, is a moving moment. Ritual works of art have an open form, the public completes the work of art with some act. Such works of art are multidisciplinary in nature since they consist of a total package including visuals, sound, light, the surroundings, actions, and the participant. Omdat een ritueel een totaalpakket is van beeld, geluid, licht, omgeving, handeling en deelnemer, zijn deze kunstwerken vaak multidisciplinair van aard. Professional guidance is crucial and requires design and practice.

Carpet of leaves

A thick carpet of leaves is layed out at the entrance of all locations. Visitors must plow their way through to get to the celebration grounds. Cheerful, airy, but with an awareness of the past.
Artist: Ida van der Lee, Ilona Kröber, Isabel Quiroga.

Lamp of flowers
Lamps in which flowers are stuck stand by the entrance. Each visitor may take a flower to lay it on a grave, for example. The development of these lamps of flowers was a cooperative effort of the artist and the local residents.
Artist: Ida van der Lee.

Bag lanterns_mg_2245-resize-wm

At the entrance, visitors receive a white paper bag with a small lamp. They are then visible in the dark without blinding others. The collection of bags which have not yet been passed out makes a striking picture. Visitors are asked, “Who are you carrying with you?”

Artist: Fiona de Bell

The Ever After_mg_2552-wm

An open space is divided into rooms. This can be be simply done using ropes, but with Allerzielen Alom, we work with crates and bales of straw to suggest rooms. Boards with text were place in the 35 rooms describing what kind of room it was. Thus, there was a ‘room for quiet people’, but als a ‘room for smoking in anger’. People looked through the rooms and placed a candle where they thought that they loved ones would be at home. The room of anger did not stay empty. This showed that a place for negative emotions is also necessary.

Artists: Ida van der Lee (idea), Harm Hajonides (text), Linda van Sommeren (design).

Name Singing around the circle of fireallerzielen-groningen-357-vuurcirkel-resized-wm

A stoker maintains the circle of fire the entire evening. Lighting the smoke with a strong spotlight creates a image in which people can dream.Visitors write the name of their departed on a piece of paper. Singers standing by the circle of fire sing these names. The slip of paper is burned in the fire afterwards. This ritual has a strong effect during an Allerzielen evening.

Artists: Ida van der Lee (idea), Daphne Questro (singing), Reinier Kurpershoek (design and fire).

Passion Mailaa-zorgvlied-max-180-wm

Visitors can send a card via Passion Mail. Glue, construction paper, and paint lie on the table. The public can decorate cards in any way. Personal texts and memories are written on the cards and then sent to other friends and next of kin. They can thus take part in the commeration. © www.passiepost.nl

Planting flower bulbs_gvd0838-resized

A simple, symbolic activity is planting flower bulbs in honour of a departed one. The name of the person is planted with it on a small flag. New life, and a place to return to.

Memory things_mg_1463

A wall with compartments and a table of “stuff”, the ingredients for a cabinet of memories in honour of the departed. One chooses something which one associates with the deceased, and then it is placed in a compartment with a text of name. New memories are recalled.

Floating lights_gvd0761

If there is a pond or other body of water present, floating lights can add a special effect. Visitors put a candle or light, incense, and the name of the deceased or a message in a floatable cup or container. The cup is then released in a symbolic gesture to the dead (photo: Geert van Duinen, 2008).

Cabinet of wishes_mg_2861

A cabinet with hollow bamboo tubes to place rolled up wishes. A poet reads a poem and passes it on to visitors.

Casting candles

Make a mould of clay for casting paraffin. The result is an amorphous candle to place on a grave.