On August 1st, artist Leigh Davis will premiere Grief Karaoke at Historic Congressional Cemetery, the first installment of her ongoing series Karaoke in the Cemetery. Historic Congressional Cemetery is designed to support grieving as it manifests—its architecture and natural landscape offering a venue for grief to be acknowledged, carried, and with Davis’ work, shared. This new series is an open invitation to commune and release the burden of carrying grief alone, instead offering a joyful connection through song to help release some of the isolation that grief can often carry.
Davis’s artistic practice explores elements of mourning and the spaces we embody in bereavement. With Grief Karaoke, the artist brings a spirit of connectedness to themes of loss. As there is no one or “right” way to grieve, we welcome a chorus of voices to connect, comfort, and find compassion in the company of others moving through their own process of mourning. Grief Karaoke will activate Historic Congressional Cemetery’s chapel with light and sound, making this a gathering space for laughter, tears, and a place to acknowledge the different kinds of losses and many ways we grieve.
Grief Karaoke opens Friday. August 1st from 7:00 – 10:00 pm. This event is 21+
Beer, wine, and soft drinks available for sale.
Doors & Bar Open at 6:30 PM in the HCC Chapel.
RSVP Below!
Leigh Davis is an artist and cultural organizer. She makes work to explore themes of grief, memory, and storytelling. Delving into how these shared human experiences shape our understanding of identity, over the past decade she has archived end-of-life experiences, shaping them into a diverse body of work. Her film, Inquiry into the ELE, exhibited at BRIC Contemporary Art (Brooklyn) and Vox Populi (Philadelphia). Her site-based installations, Vigil and Feeling Tones featured at Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn). Davis has exhibited at Open Source (Brooklyn), EFA Project Space (New York), Oliver Art Center (Oakland), the Kreeger Museum (DC) and Grizzly Grizzly (Philadelphia). She’s created performances for Dixon Place (New York) and Sound Scene at the Hirshhorn Museum (DC).
In addition to solo work, Davis creates projects that intersect with communities; from the Residence series created with residents of the YWCA Brooklyn, to Quiet Service, a project centering on Baltimore religious institutions, to Secular Columbarium for the Island, a mythological exploration of Southwest DC. She divides her time between Brooklyn, NY, and Washington, DC and currently serves as a Part-Time Associate Professor at Parsons School of Design.
