Promoting death literacy among young adults through arts-based approaches

Research-creation support material

01 Light Up the Dark 2022

“Light Up the Dark 2022” was a 2020-2022 collaborative project between OCAD University and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto where ten recent graduates produced short animations in response to the Museum’s permanent collection of Islamic Art. The project sought to explore how young people of diverse backgrounds understand and interact with Islamic culture. This example is included in this application because it represents an example of graduate student supervision and training, as well as an example of a research-creation output that would be similar to the proposed project with respect to enhancing cultural literacy. Similar to the idea of enhancing death literacy in the proposed project, this example highlights the building of literacy around Islamic culture among the general public (focus on building literacy in social/cultural area).

Co-Applicant Philippe Blanchard served as curator/programmer on the project, putting together the artist team and assisting in developing their projects. The project was initiated in 2021, and its presentation was postponed to December 2022 due to COVID.

02 What Does a Garden Know?

“What Does a Garden Know?” is a 2020 thesis project by bekky O’Neil, an MFA student in OCAD University’s Interdisciplinary Media, Art & Design program. Co-Applicant Philippe Blanchard was Principal Supervisor on this Master's Reseach Project. The project is a first-person animated documentary narrating the artist’s experiences setting up an organic farm in Northumberland County, Ontario. The film uses materials harvested from the farm (sustainable inks) and discusses the importance of sustainable agriculture more broadly.

This example is included in this application because it represents an example of graduate student supervision and training, as well as an example of a research-creation output that would be similar to the proposed project: a short animated documentary using first-person sources (a diary) to transfer knowledge on an issue with a social relevance: sustainable agriculture, in this case.

03 Trillium Grieving Project

“Trillium Grieving Project” was a 2023 collaborative research-creation pilot project involving Primary Investigator Susan Law, Co-Applicants Kristina Smith and Philippe Blanchard and four OCAD U undergraduate animation students. Using the framework of an experiential learning course, the four students visually translated healthcare provider diaries focusing on the experience of waiting and grief in the context of palliative care. The 3-month project was focused on developing approaches to visual storytelling and knowledge translation. The interactions with the student participants revealed the possibility of primary research involving the experiences of the students themselves as their understanding of death and grieving was shaped by the embodied experience of developing artworks on this topic collaboratively.

Works by Aleksandra Rodneva