The Corpse Project

Trans and non-binary people are often faced with life difficulties in this overly gender binaried world. Consequently, there is little opportunity to explore how we deal with the trans and non-binary body after death.

Gendered Intelligence are looking for a small group of people who are over the age of 16 and would like to get involved.

We welcome trans people and our friends, family and allies.

It is open to people with any or no spiritual background and any opinions about the body after death.

The Corpse Project is a national research project asking ‘How can we lay our bodies to rest so they help the living and the earth?’ It is offering places to the Gendered Intelligence community to talk about trans bodies after death and to be part of its unique programme, supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Over four days in June, we will visit a crematorium, a cemetery and a funeral director, learn about rituals and make our own ‘rituals for the trans soul’. We will look at how to turn the body into compost, the pros and cons of burial and cremation, future technologies and about how various cultures through the world treat bodies in a specific and gendered way after death. This is a sensitive but interesting, universal and very urgent topic, as land for burial gets scarce and we need to protect the environment. It is also very important that our bodies are dealt with in a way which respects our identity when we are alive. We will make sure this is a creative, respectful experience for all participants. It will be thoughtful but not miserable and sometimes fun.

It will be led by Dr Sophie Churchill from The Corpse Project supported by Krishna Istha.

 The programme:

Saturday June 4th, 4pm to 7pm –  Opening Session at GI, 200a Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JP.

Friday June 10th, 10.30am to 3pm – Golders Green Crematorium and return to GI.

Monday June 13th, 10.30am to 1.30pm – Poppy’s Funerals, Tooting. (Bring lunch.)

Saturday June 18th, 2pm to  7pm – Crossbones cemetery Southwark, the cemetery for outcasts, followed by FINAL SESSION AND SHARING OF FINDINGS AND RITUALS at GI

There is no fee, but participants must attend as many sessions as they possibly can so that the group is supported and the research is completed. Your views will be treated as confidential but will feed into the national findings of The Corpse Project. Venues are basically wheelchair accessible. Please ask for more details.

E mail krishna.istha@genderedintelligence.co.uk to book a place.