Visitors to the bone church often describe it as macabre, eerie or creepy and I once asked the lady at the desk if she ever felt bothered to be working there. She flipped her hand in a dismissive way and said “Pfft! They’re only bones, they won’t hurt you; it’s the living who scare me”.

Like the lady at the desk in the bone church in Kutna Hora I did not find the art installation there creepy, macabre or eerie. It was actually very beautiful.

Likewise, I do not find the concept of hanging coffins creepy or macabre. Located 275 km. north of Manila, Sagada is famous for the “hanging coffins”, examples of which are shown here. This was a traditional way of burying people that is not in use anymore. Forebears of current residents practised the unusual burial practice of hanging and stacking coffins, hewed from tree trunks, in the limestone karst cliffs and caves near town. If I ever make it to the Philippines this will be on my checklist of things to see.

However, to be really frank, it will be hard for me to match the awe I experienced when I visited the Bone Chapel in Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic. My personal favourite was the coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, especially the segment depicting a raven picking the eye from an invading soldier. If you’re going to depict a raven eating somebody’s eye, what more appropriate medium could there be?

Seek out and share examples of what could be deemed installation art. Here are some examples of things to be found in Victoria.

Installation Honoring Ancestors