Alan Harris McDonald Community Collaboration Coffin Auction
A Coffin does not have to be a vessel of grief, let’s make it a canvas of life.
Tell your story and start the most important conversation you’ve never had.
The team at Alan Harris McDonald and 5 talented local artists in conjunction with The Groundswell Project ‘Dying to Know Day’ campaign are turning the tables on the relationship and perspective our society have on what a coffin means to them.
We want to change the view imbedded into so many of those within our community, that a coffin, is merely an object of grief and loss, but to think of it as a canvas to tell a story, to express our love and emotion and show a true and individualised representation of the loved one whom we celebrate the life of.
Quite simply, we understand this is a tough conversation to have. Dealing with a life limiting diagnosis and death is traumatic enough, but if we do not connect through one of humanity’s only shared experiences, the emotional trauma can last years, and even through generations and we have had enough of that. If COVID has taught us anything, it is that we all need connection.
This is truly what we believe funeral Services and end of life planning should be about, telling a story and memorialising the impact our loved ones have and will have in our lives, before and after death. We believe by creating these masterpieces on the canvas of a coffin will create much needed conversations within our communities. We believe our community members are wanting to have these discussions and with the talents and courage of our local artists, we believe we have the opportunity to help start them
From the 11th of August to the 30th of September 2021, we will be auctioning each coffin online. Each local Artist has nominated a Charity close to their hearts and all profits from each coffin successfully sold will go to their chosen charity. Those who are the winning bidder of each coffin may request to store the coffin for them, they may choose to donate it during the year, to a family who cannot afford a coffin, or they may want to use it for when they need it for a family or friend. Three of the coffins will have a matching artwork that the winning bidder will have to create a memorialisation and connection of the celebration of the life of their loved one for the future or indeed they may display the art as a reminder of the incredible coffin they have chosen for when their family celebrates their life.
