The Cemetery As Social Space

When you hear the word cemetery, what do you think? Do you think of tombstones and deceased family members?  Of a man moaning: ‘They’re coming to get you Barbara’ or a naked girl dancing on a coffin (See Return Of the Living Dead). Maybe you picture yourself wandering under a full moon as unknown creatures howl into the night. But how often have you thought of cemeteries as depositories of art?  Art, not in relation to painted images or designed sets, but simply as overlooked and under-appreciated reservoirs of craftsmanship.

Cemeteries are all too often overlooked in cities. Though they bear witness to wars, plagues and persecutions, all too often, they sit unvisited and often, uncared for. Yes, their primary function is indeed to remind us of those no longer present. Yes, cemeteries are indeed spaces that allow us, as a society, to mourn in tranquility and respect. And yet, they are also one of the few spaces that are allowed to exist outside of time. Cemeteries are the final refuge of city dwelling ‘nature’. Cemeteries are the one place in a city where nature can grow, crack and expand without being poisoned, hacked or obliterated from space and yet, they are kept in the shadows.

Free or inexpensive social spaces are disappearing. In a world where most things are in the process of being privatized, there is very little room for things that can’t be made to ooze profitability. Libraries are closing and ever underfunded. Art Galleries charge an entrance fee more often than naught. Coffee prices are on the rise and rare are those who would willingly visit shops charging 5 dollars for a simple black cup of Jo with no free refills.

There is a cemetery in Milan called Cimitero Monumentale di Milano and it is mind-blowingly beautiful. Visit it for two days type of beautiful. Get lost in time and space type of beautiful.  It is also massive, 250,000 square metres of massive (according to Wikipedia) and it’s free and open most days. It is walled in and extends into something that could be found in the Sandman universe.

The space is a sprawling, wondrous and psychologically intrusive. Memento Moris cram the horizon. Death is everywhere or at least what’s left of it and the perplexing thing is, you feel alive. These are our unsung ancestors, aware of the one thing, it seems, we’ll never be: The Afterlife. And yet,  we seem inclined to keep our distance. Why? Because the very myths that make them interesting keep us at arm’s length.

The Natural, death and entombment, are, for some reason, treated as unnatural. Though we, as a society, have become atheistic, agnostic and even anti-vax, we are still superstitious when it comes to cemeteries. Vampires. Zombies. Plagues. Night Breed and the undead. They lurk and moan, twist and lurch and sink into our collective consciousness. The thing is, if ever they were clean and entirely accessible they’d no longer present to us the wonders most of them currently hold. No buddy I know is excited by the concept of exploring a new cemetery, but even the most hesitant of aesthetes can be coerced into entering an old museum. Death may be frightening but humankind’s various attempts to understand, cope or push it away  have never been anything but exhilarating.

I have had lunch in a cemetery. Had a beer and, on a separate occasion, a delicious glass of wine. I have cried and sent letters to authors I know will never be read by them. I’ve been scared, surprised and yes, sometimes disappointed, but never bored. Cemeteries are places that should be cherished and these spaces extend way beyond Milan. The Jewish Cemetery where Kafka is buried in Prague. Pessoa in Lisbon. Ivo Andric in Belgrade. Tomas Tranströmer in Stockholm. Susan Sontag, Sartre, Baudelaire and countless others in Paris. If you’re reading this you may even be so inclined to leave personal favourites in the comments.

The thing is, though I initially visited cemeteries with a specific marker in mind, I now find myself visiting cemeteries in new cities in order to be overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the space. They often also happen to consist of amazing lookouts or they are located found near parks or nature reserves of some sort.

If you are lucky they may even contain animals. The cemetery near Victoria’s downtown is overrun with deer. Deer that defecate on tombstones. Which may sound grim or perverse but can also be seen as an incredibly funny and a pleasant reminder of utter the absurdity of taking death seriously. I do not mean that death is something to laugh at or ridicule. It is however, appropriate that we be reminded, from time to time, that we don’t need to be buried in 25,000 dollar caskets. And, if that is something we desire, there’s little we can do to stop an animal from shitting on it, if it so desires to do so.

To conclude, it’s time we embrace, cherish and revisit the purpose of the cemetery. Explore a little. You never know, you just might fine yourself staring down the butt of a deer asking yourself  ‘Well, how did I get here’