Philip Treacy remembers Issie Blow
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Running until 2 March at London’s Somerset House, Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! is an exhibition celebrating the extraordinary life and wardrobe of the late patron of fashion and art. To promote the show, one of her many protégés, milliner Philip Treacy, talks here. As the interview progresses, he gets increasingly emotional as […]
Candlepower
If you’re out in Soho on a Saturday night chances are, as you reel from one nightspot to another, that a fresh-faced young person will greet you with the somewhat discordant question, “Would you like to light a candle in a church?” Being idealists, these gentle, big-eyed souls are used to being rebuffed by all […]
Your kids, your legacy
From today’s Times Diary: Given a reminder of mortality by Michael Schumacher’s recent accident, Sir Matthew Pinsent, who is a year younger than the German racing driver, decided to have a serious talk with his three children about his plans in the event of anything happening to him and his wife. The oarsman-turned-presenter discussed wills, […]
In memory of England’s slaves
The arrival of slave trading ships at Bristol’s port helped make the city rich in the 18th century. But there are few memorials to the thousands of Africans put to work around Britain in that century. It was, therefore, interesting to learn that the modern Pero’s Bridge at Bristol Harbour is named after the slave of […]
Raising money in memory
The sun that bids us rest is waking Our brethren ’neath the western sky The words of the well-known hymn put us in mind of our undertakerly comrades, slow adopters in everything — justly cautious of novelty. In the last year there’s been a lot of waking up to the benefits of online charity fundraising […]
Warhol inspires from beyond the grave
Posted by Richard Rawlinson As the big chill looms in the UK, it’s already snowing in Philadelphia. I know this as I’ve stumbled across a Facebook page dedicated to Andy Warhol’s grave in a Pittsburgh cemetery. Here. It seems the page is updated daily with images taken by fans of the pop artist who visit the […]
Graveyard snappers: the finalists
The Memorial Awareness Board has asked us to publicise the following competition and, of course, we are very happy to do that. The Memorial Awareness Board have been hosting a national photo competition. With over 200 great entries the ten shortlisted have been confirmed and their photos are now published on the website. We invite you to have […]
Think globally, act locally
All other things being equal, the manner of the death and the age of a dead person determine the response. Diana, sudden, young = vast outpouring of grief. Mandela, protracted, old = vast outpouring of celebration. They said when it was all over that a factor in the lamentation for Diana was unresolved grief — […]
Let’s get physical
Once upon a time photos were physical things that you gathered together and painstakingly stuck into an album. Nowadays, our photos are virtual — digital — and we merrily scatter them across our social media. Photos used to accumulate. Not any more, they don’t. The result is that the memories they evoke become fragmented among […]
Dining with the dead
In many Western countries graveyards are seen as sinister or even frightening but not so in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. As with other eastern Orthodox countries, it is common for Georgians to honour their deceased relatives by taking food and wine to cemeteries, and having feasts beside the graves. Although practised thoughout the […]
