In November comes the time for commemorating the deceased. Funerary rituals enable the living to continue their “trade of living,” while cemetery spaces bear witness to the cults rendered to the dead across the centuries and sometimes allow life to reclaim its rights. Père Lachaise, for example, hosts among its tombs—varied in eras and designs—a significant flora and fauna. In this refuge—or elsewhere—it happens that the dead manifest their presence among the living. Traversing History and diverse cultural contexts, let us explore these unsettling spaces where the dead leave the place assigned to them.

Conference led by Fanny Bocquentin

With:

• Grégory Delaplace, anthropologist, Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, CNRS Bronze Medal (2015). Author of The Voice of Ghosts: When the Dead Overflow (La couleur des idées, Seuil, 2024)

• Benoît Gallot, curator of Père Lachaise, author of The Secret Life of a Cemetery (Les Arènes, 2022) and the Instagram account la_vie_au_cimetiere

Event organized by the Public Information Library (Bibliothèque Publique d’Information) of the Centre Georges Pompidou as part of its “Making History” series, under the direction of Geneviève Maupeou.

November 9th at 7:00 PM.

Bpi Entrance

Public Information Library
Level 2
40 avenue des Terroirs de France
75012 Paris

https://agenda.bpi.fr/evenement/presence-des-morts-parmi-les-vivants/