Ten writer’s desks, a two hundred metre stretch of beach, two tidelines, one earth.
An ambitious public performance work, Nature Obituary is a gentle invitation to write and listen to obituaries for Mother Earth. Delving into themes of eco-spirituality and eco-psychology, this unique show acts as a pathway to honour and grieve loss in a time of profound climate crisis. A richly conceptual experience that brings people together for one afternoon at Shoreham Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, Nature Obituary is an intimate and original gesture, running for as long as the day’s tide will allow.
Created by artist Janenne Willis, Nature Obituary sees ten antique writer’s desks situated on the sand lining the shoreline. Each desk faces the sea with charcoal pencils and recycled paper atop. Audience members are invited to pen an obituary via one of two paths – to free write or to respond to creative writing prompts. Written about any part of nature they feel drawn to honouring, once finished each obituary is placed under a paperweight for others to read. Throughout the afternoon, select pieces will be read aloud by live performance readers Tariro Mavondo, Felicity Mashuro, and Janenne Willis.
Spanning across 200m of beautiful Shoreham Beach attendees are encouraged to rug up, savour their surroundings, and involve themselves in the experience in any way they feel comfortable doing. The show will continually unfold over its duration offering the opportunity to arrive anytime and stay for as little or as long as one desires.
Bringing people together at a time when, for many, cohesion feels at an all-time ebb, Nature Obituary offers an afternoon of connection to each other, to the earth, and an honouring of place.
Deep See Survey are artists Janenne Willis, Bri Horne, Curtis Hill, and Leyla Bulmer. They are a collective and they make art on Bunurong and Boonwurrung Country, in what is now known as Shoreham. Their inaugural season in 2024 is made up of four live shows, four live workshops, and four poetry circles. Nature Obituary and Deep See Survey’s opening season of programming is proudly supported by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s Performing Arts Fund.
