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The Grief Gallery

The Grief Gallery presents exhibitions, installations and events featuring the belongings of loved ones lost during international design festivals, including NYCxDESIGN, the London Design Festival and DesignTO (Toronto).

After independent curator Charlene Lam lost her mother suddenly in 2013, she leaned into her creativity and curatorial instincts to guide herself through grief. Faced with the impossible task of emptying out her mother’s dream house, she asked herself: “If I was to do an exhibition about my mother, which 100 objects would I choose?”

That question — “If I was to do an exhibition about my mother, which 100 objects would I choose?” — was the key to making progress with her mom’s belongings, moving through her grief and moving forward with her own life. It was also the seed for The Grief Gallery, with the first exhibition incorporating her mom’s belongings taking place in London in 2015.

In the years since, through The Grief Gallery, her work as a certified grief coach and her Curating Grief framework, she spotlights the objects left behind after a loved one dies as a powerful source of connection, awareness and healing. 

This is The Grief Gallery’s core belief:

We are ALL curators after a loved one dies.

Part of the Reimagine End of Life Event Calendar

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CURATOR'S NOTE

Why a Grief Gallery?

When my mom died 9 years ago, I was working as an independent curator in London. My pop-up exhibitions showcased the work of designers, makers and artists, under the names Creative Clerkenwell and The Creative Edit.

When it came time to pick out an urn for my mom’s ashes, I commissioned a custom porcelain urn from an East London ceramicist whose work I loved.

That was the start of my work as a Grief Curator. Over the years, I’ve commissioned illustrations, paper art and photoshoots in memory of my mom and others’ loved ones. I’ve presented exhibitions in London and Brooklyn about grief and loss.

Channeling my grief into creating and commissioning work from designers and makers has been an incredibly rewarding and healing experience.

After an extended period of grief and loss on many levels, I invite visitors to explore the universal themes of grief and loss through this creative lens. Out of darkness and pain, we can craft beauty and create meaning.

- Charlene Lam, Curator and Founder, The Grief Gallery
hello@thegriefgallery.com