A Singapore charity last week announced the winners of an international art competition to design “happy coffins” to encourage the elderly and dying to celebrate life.
Six winning designs out of 733 entries from 37 countries were made into personalized coffins in cooperation with a local funeral home.
The first prize of US$3,000 went to a 27-year-old Belgian woman, Ines van Gucht, whose design showed a furry black creature whom she described as a friend that would take care of her after her death.
PHOTO: AFP
A message on the figure read: “Hello coffin. You seem to be nice. One day we will meet again. To the rest of you I say goodbye. I hope it was a blast.”
Other entries included a coffin designed to resemble chocolate bars and another depicting the dishes of a “last supper” served on the top.
Under the slogan “My Life, My Coffin” the foundation said it wanted to encourage people to think “out of the box” about taboos surrounding death.
Three elderly Singaporean women living in a Roman Catholic shelter, St. Joseph’s Home and Hospice, co-designed their own coffins with young local artists as part of the project.
“I’m very pleased with it,” Elsie Chua, 76, said with a serene smile as she sat in a wheelchair beside a white coffin with blue drawings of a young woman at a sewing machine surrounded by roses, birds, butterflies and a reindeer.
“I was a seamstress before and I sewed dresses for my mother, and that’s why I chose it and the designer designed it for me,” she told journalists.
The project was spearheaded by the local Lien Foundation, which favors non-traditional forms of philanthropy.
“This is to me part art, part social initiative to transform coffins — to me they are a supreme symbol of death — into a creative canvas for the reflection and celebration of life,” said Lee Poh Wah, the foundation’s chief executive officer.
(AFP)
新加坡一個慈善團體為鼓勵臨終老人享受有生之年所舉辦的國際「快樂棺材」藝術設計競賽，上週公佈得獎名單。
從三十七個國家的七百三十三件入圍設計中脫穎而出的六件優勝作品，在當地殯葬單位的協助下，都已訂製成個人化棺木。
贏得三千美元首獎的是二十七歲的比利時女子伊妮絲‧凡‧古赫特，她所設計的棺材上，有一隻毛茸茸的黑色生物，她說那是會在她往生後會照顧她的朋友。
這個黑色生物上方寫著：「哈囉！棺材。你很好看（對著棺材說）。我們有一天會再見面（對要購買這副棺材的人說）。至於其他的，只好下次有機會了。希望你們這一輩子過得精采（對其他看棺材的人說）。」
其他的樣式包括一副做成巧克力棒的棺材，還有一副上面畫著名畫「最後的晚餐」上的盤子。
該組織以口號「我的人生，我的棺材」，鼓勵人們「跳脫框架」思考，不要受到死亡相關忌諱的牽絆。
三位住在聖約瑟夫養老院（暫譯），信奉羅馬天主教的新加坡老太太，也與當地的年輕藝術家配合，參與設計自己要用的棺材。這也是該計畫的一部分。
七十六歲的艾爾希‧蔡面帶平和的微笑，坐在輪椅上，表示，「我對這個棺材很滿意。」她旁邊擺著一副白色棺材，上面以藍色顏料畫上一位坐在縫紉機前的少婦，旁邊圍繞著玫瑰、鳥兒、蝴蝶，與馴鹿。
她告訴記者們，「我曾是裁縫師，我也幫我母親縫裙子，這是為何我選這圖案，而設計師幫我設計。」
這個計畫由連氏基金會（暫譯）發起，該基金會傾向支持非傳統的慈善活動。
基金會執行長李普華（暫譯）表示，「對我而言，使棺材─我認為它（棺材）是代表死亡的最高象徵─成為人生的寫照與讚頌生命的畫布，部分是為了藝術，部分是要改變社會對棺材的觀感。」
（法新社／翻譯：吳岱璟）
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