Death, culturally
A mandala laid at the Museum of City and Sea represents the circle of life and death.
New Zealand is home to some 200 different cultures each with their own traditions and rituals surrounding death and dying. In its latest exhibition Death and Diversity the Museum of City and Sea has gathered a sample of these, exploring the traditional rituals for funerals, burials and cremations of Wellington’s Assyrian, Chinese, Colombian, Hindu, Jewish, Mexican and Muslim communities. To prepare for the opening of the exhibition, a mandala was laid which represents the circle of life and death. The mandala stems from Indian traditions, but is now widely used in many other cultures.
While traditional ceremonies tend to be diverse many of the traditions surrounding death are quite similar. Take the Jewish, Muslim and Assyrian communities. In all three cultures, the body is washed.
The religious advisor for the Federation of the Islamic Association of New Zealand, Sheikh Muhammed Amir says this is to rid any “impurity or filth that may be with the person until his or her death.”
He says the body is then buried relatively quickly – if possible on the day of the death. However, in New Zealand this is not always possible.
“Often family have to arrive from overseas before proceeding with the burial,” Amir says.
Traditionally in Judaism mourners stay at home for seven days after the death. Each evening a prayer service or Shiva Minyan is held with a traditional prayer or Kaddish recited every night of the Shiva Minyan and every day for 11 months after the death.
However, both Muslim and Assyrian cultures allow only three days of mourning.
“After that time the men need to go back to work to provide for the family. Traditionally, the women stays home, sometimes they work, but we allow for them up to a month to mourn fully,” Amir says.
In Wellington there is only one Assyrian church. “Sometimes we have to use other catholic churches to hold our services, because the Assyrian church is too small,” says community spokesperson, Sarjon Warde.
He says the exhibition is a good way to celebrate all the cultures in New Zealand.
“It reminds us that while we have different religions, that we are all one, and we all call New Zealand home.”
Death and Diversity, Museum of City and Sea, to June 28, 2012.
Have Your Say
0 Comments
No comments.