Many thanks to the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) and VCCA-France for their support of this installation that took place July 10-18, 2023 at Chapelle Saint Catherine du Port in Auvillar, France, along the Garonne River and one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

As with the previous iteration in Brooklyn Bridge Park (2019), the installation considers cemeteries as their own social network and takes a view to trends in memorialization now that many physical cemeteries worldwide are at capacity. A collaborative project with video designer Lianne Arnold, the installation includes mobiles created with basswood, vellum and string representing monuments and symbols in silhouette, from East coast cemeteries as well as a 20 minute video projection that incorporates drawings, photographs, animations, sound and mapped projections.

We incorporated an additional video reveal of the frieze at front of the chapel as we started working at the site. Using light, we were able to trace and fill in the outlines of the animals and a part of a person represented and faded over time in the frieze.

The research-driven concepts and trends have been compiled in a booklet written by Paul D'Agostino and translated into French by Morgan Cini. This is an on-going project that will be updated with each new siting.

Follow our project on instagram @lesliekerby, @liannearnold

These photos represent a timeline of the installation. The Chapel was open to the public as the installation unfolded. We had visits and great conversations with neighbors in the village as well as from pilgrims traversing the Camino trail.

Leslie Kerby

Leslie Kerby