Funeral for a Home Community Forum

Join artists Billy and Steven Dufala to discuss the planning and design of a public funeral and memorial service of an abandoned Mantua home, set to take place in May 2014. The Dufala brothers are keen to learn about the traditions of funeral service and memorial practice in Mantua and its surrounding area and invite any and all input. This is a public and informal meeting, and an opportunity to help shape the public "funeral" for a Philadelphia row house in Mantua.

This programming was developed in conjunction with Funeral for a Home, supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Under the stewardship of Temple Contemporary, Funeral for a Home will celebrate the life of a single row home before it is razed. The chosen home, one out of 500 already slated to come down next year, will receive a "funeral" to mark its passing: a free public event that will include a procession of local residents and clergy, youth orchestra and gospel choir performances, and a remembrance service at which neighbors can pay their respects. Funeral for a Home serves as a direct response to years of widespread demolition in North Philadelphia, in an effort to generate critical thinking, discussion, and action around issues of housing redevelopment and preservation.