We are all going to die - so why not talk about it?​

Dying. is an event series, explores death ​through ​the lens of design and art, running during the DesignTO Festival.

Dying. is in fact about living, living with the human experience of dying: What are we avoiding talking about? What matters at end-of-life?

​The Dying.series events bring together perspectives from artists, families, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers to spark public conversation through community creation and interactive experiences. The series invites us to think about our relationship with death and dying as an individual, a member of a family, social network and as a member of a community. Let’s get comfortable with the uncomfortable and start talking about what truly matters.

“The only way death is not meaningless is to see yourself as part of something greater: a family, a community, a society.”
(Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End).

UPCOMING EVENTS

📅Jan 24 – Feb 7, 2026
👥Exhibition | In-person
📍Youngplace180 Shaw Street, Toronto

Opening Reception: Jan 27, 2026 - 6-9 pm

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Dying.exhibit 2026 is an upcoming group exhibition presented at Artscape Youngplace in Toronto, running from January 24 to February 7, 2026. This exhibition aims to shape death literacy by initiating conversations on death, dying, fragility, loss, and grief through socially engaged art pieces that embrace diverse cultural and spiritual perspectives.

​As a multidisciplinary and multicultural collective, we are producing this exhibition to expand the public narrative on death by creating opportunities for conversations about end-of-life beyond clinical settings and before people face life-limiting situations. The exhibition will feature a mix of contemplative and participatory art and design works, with a focus on interactivity and audience engagement.
Inviting audiences across generations and cultures to reflect (through contemplative pieces) and rethink (through interactive pieces) their relationship with death, the project aims to promote death literacy, reduce stigma around death, and reconnect the public with the topics of dying through transcendental yet diverse human experiences.

📅Feb 2 and 3, 2026
​ 👥Symposium | In-person and Online

Upcoming

Dying.dialogues 2026 is a two-day symposium that invites reflection and exchange on design, art, and end-of-life experience. Bringing together designers, artists, scholars, health care practitioners, and the wider public, the event creates space for dialogue around death, dying, loss, and grief, and explores the ways creative practice can shape how we engage with these universal experiences.
Through a range of presentations, discussions, and participatory formats, Dying.dialogues 2026 examines how design can support conversations about mortality, memory, and care, including speculative and exploratory works, community-based interventions, and research collaborations.
As part of the Dying.series and presented during the DesignTO Festival, Dying.dialogues 2026 continues the collective effort to foster death literacy and to reimagine our relationship with dying. The symposium invites audiences to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and to participate in open, cross-disciplinary conversations about what truly matters at the end of life.

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