Life and death come together at ROM in Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery

Encounter the exhibition that asks the big questions this October. 

TORONTO, July 5, 2023 – Prepare to meet death, in its many forms, and celebrate the ways in which life endures in Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery. Opening at ROM on October 28, 2023, and continuing until April 7, 2024, this exhibition was organized by the Field Museum and made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Through artifacts, specimens, interactives, and immersive media experiences, discover amazing animal and plant adaptations for survival and learn how various cultures commemorate life. This multi-sensory exhibition embraces how death and life are interconnected through cultural and biological perspectives and how that can inspire meaningful reflection on grief, remembrance, and survival. The exhibition asks the big questions about death and life we’re all destined to face: What is death? What will happen to my body? What will happen to my spirit? Do I have to die?  How will my death affect others?

“From death-defying microscopic animals to the heartache of grief, this exhibition explores the many facets of death,” says Josh Basseches, ROM Director & CEO. “In doing so, it opens up important conversations about one of life’s greatest mysteries.”

The exhibition draws upon the diverse collections of Chicago’s Field Museum and also includes some feature objects from the ROM collections that span art, culture and nature.

“How we experience death, celebrate life, and wonder about what’s next are all part of what makes us human", says Chen Shen, ROM Co-Chief Curator, Art & Culture. “This exhibition enables us to explore death through culture, science, and art, with an examination of the diversity of cultural practices and the myriad ways death is observed in the natural word.”

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• Hanging scroll from ROM’s collections, Judgement and Punishment in Hell, from the Qing Dynasty presenting a narrative scene depicting of Yanluo Wang (閻羅王), the King of Hell, and of an underworld official handing out decrees of punishment.
• An ofrenda created by Chicago artist Norma Rios Sierra to honour her departed family and ancestors, that is highly ornamental and includes immortal iconic calaca figurines (skull or skeleton figures). Such ofrenda are often created as household memorials for the traditional Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos).
• A boat-shaped fantasy coffin for a Ghanaian fisherman honours the dead by burying them in a manner that symbolizes the life of the individual who died. This nine-foot coffin, with rowers and oars, is also a symbol for the passage from this world into the afterlife.
• Model of a tardigrade, a microscopic animal that has evolved to possess some clever tricks to evade death and survive in some of the harshest conditions imaginable on Earth.
• A mummified cat from ROM collections dating to the Roman Period. Mummified cats were used as votive offerings to the cat-headed goddess Bastet, a powerful and protective god.

Throughout the show, guests are surveyed at interactive stations on questions such as: “Doctors stopped a patient’s heart for 30 minutes during surgery — did they die?” “Aspen trees possess the ability to clone themselves — if the original aspen is cut down, has that tree really died?” “After passing, would you rather be buried or cremated?” “Do you want your funeral to be a packed affair or an intimate gathering of close friends or family?”.  

Through cultural and biological perspectives, Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery welcomes visitors of all ages to contemplate an inevitable experience. While the subject may be taboo or emotional for some guests, the exhibition is designed to encourage dialogue and thought in a safe, and comfortable environment. Through visiting, people will reflect on death as part of the cycle of life, and leave reflecting on life’s most universal experience. 

Please note: no actual human remains are on display in this exhibition. 

Members will have the first opportunity to attend Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery during the Member Preview on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28, 2023.

ROM Boutique is selling the exhibition catalogue Beyond Death: Beliefs, Practice, and Material Expression. This book is also available to read online.

Programs 
ROM Walks: Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Wednesday, July 26, 2023, and Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
The public is invited on a walking tour of the grand tombs and the notable Canadians buried in this 200-acre cemetery, and learn about symbolism found on their grave markers and tombstones. Since the 1980’s ROM has offered free walking tours of Toronto from May to October. See link for a full list of free walking tours.