Call for Participation:
Preparing Wishes for the Afterlife
Thinking with Death and Legacy in Artistic Practice
As an art practitioner, what concerns and wishes arise when you think about your own death?
And how might you want to care for what remains - your works, relationships, or intentions?
Preparing for the end of life is a complex matter.
There are feelings to navigate, experiences to revisit, and often a desire to bring certain aspects of life to a sense of closure. Practical questions also arise: how to secure support in one’s final moments, and what to do with what is left behind. For art practitioners, this may also be a moment to reflect on how elements of their practice might continue to resonate, circulate, or remain in relation with others after their death. This task involves both emotional responsibility and practical considerations - such as sorting and organising works, reflecting on one’s practice, and deciding what to pass on, to whom, how, and with what intentions.
This study seeks to understand how art practitioners think about death, how they wish to prepare for it, and who or what supports them in doing so. It also looks at how artists approach the process of legacy-making: how they reflect on what they wish to leave behind, and what resources or structures (legal tools, institutional frameworks, or informal practices) are available to help them navigate this aspect of death management.
Participation is open to adult art practitioners currently active in the Netherlands, regardless of background, identity, health condition, or artistic orientation. It involves a maximum of two recorded conversations (max. 2 hours each session) with the researcher. The location, format, and timing can be discussed in advance.
Informed consent will be requested, and participants may bring a support person if they wish.
Participation is voluntary and not remunerated, but in exchange for their time, the researcher (who is also a practicing artist) can offer support such as help with writing, feedback on work, technical assistance, or practical tasks
Conversations will be transcribed and pseudonymised to protect identities, with all personal data stored securely and treated confidentially. Findings will inform both academic publications and artistic interventions within the project.
The study is led by art practitioner and death researcher Valentina Curandi (she/her), whose interest in death management in the arts emerged through her artistic practice and lived experience with a chronic condition. It is part of a Ph.D. trajectory n Artistic Research supported by the program MERIAN (a collaboration between Maastricht University, ZUYD Hogeschool and the Jan van Eyck Academie). The study has received ethics approval from the Ethics Review Committee Inner City Faculties of Maastricht University.
For more information about the project: https://merianmaastricht.nl
If you are interested in taking part in and/ or have questions about the study, please send an email to valentina.curandi@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
Participants can withdraw from the study at any time before, during and after the interviews and
without giving further reasons (or any negative consequences) by email notification.
dr. Ties van de Werff lector
research centre What Art Knows
Maastricht Institute of Arts, Zuyd Hogeschool | +31 (0)43 346 6365 | +31 (0)6 17 05 45 14 | ties.vandewerff@zuyd.nl | Herdenkingsplein 12, 6211 PW Maastricht | Postbus 531, 6200 AM Maastricht | Room: 0.11 | whatartknows.nl | merianmaastricht.nl | zuyd.nl
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