Mors Mortis Museum is proud to feature Dr. Tia Price who has contributed to the Heritage, Tourism, and Death section of the upcoming Routledge handbook: Museums, Heritage, and Death with her work tentatively titled: The Hollywood Museum of Death: The commodification of the maiden, criminal, and the corpse.
“The corpse, outside of heritage or anthropology, is not given much attention in scholarship, particularly when it comes to pop-culture; this I intend to add to illuminate a little with my research”
Tia Price has had a constant, never ending interest in death. She explains that when her first love died at the age of 17 this changed her trajectory in life. “I see strands of this motivating me in countless ways, continuously. Not least my interest in death. I studied drama for my under-grad but ended up writing about the representation of cannibalism and serial killers for my thesis. Anything gothic, macabre or death related, I loved it. In 2016, years out of academia and with two children under three, looking for a teaching course, I happened upon the Death Master of Arts at Winchester University and within four weeks I was on the course. It rekindled so many things, particularly my love of death. The Visual culture module specifically fascinated me and spurred what became a presentation for The Death and Culture III Conference 2020, my contribution to this volume and now (in part) my PhD studies.” Presenting at The Death and Culture III conference also happens to be one of her most meaningful moments.
Price also has an interest in many death related topics, one of those being voodoo. She explains that voodoo is “perceived as ‘the cult of death’ [and] is hideously and continuously maligned in pop culture yet endlessly fascinating and inspiring. Its various signifiers thrown up in film and displays within Dime museums without consideration to the continued appropriation and negative connotations that are perpetuated, are many. The syncretic religion freed a people from mental control through ritual, so it is still feared for its power to liberate to this day. The corpse, outside of heritage or anthropology, is not given much attention in scholarship, particularly when it comes to pop-culture; this I intend to add to illuminate a little with my research.”
Price is an English Professor to students with SEND/SPLD. She says that “Deathwork has absolutely no relation to my job other than through Tarot reading which I have done for 22 years professionally, and my creative outlet of clay grotesques or painting. Deathwork may have more value over the coming years in contributing to the charity I am in the process of establishing (to provide counselling and therapies for children and teens from low income backgrounds.) Otherwise it’s simply because I LOVE it.”
You can find Tia Price’s work on her Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/tootfish
And her Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/i/dress/Woke-Remix-by-Tootfish/51372876.V4WQ8
By Jesse Morgan, a Communication and Photography Student at Coastal Carolina University, USA.
Mors Mortis Museum 