Mors Mortis Museum is proud to feature Kelsey Perreault who will contribute to the Politics and the Dead section of the upcoming Routledge handbook: Museums, Heritage, and Death with her work titled: A Shadow Pandemic: Documenting, Visualizing, and Memorializing Victims of Femicide in Mexico City
Perreault became interested in death-related topics after reading a children’s book about the Holocaust called Hannah’s Suitcase when she was little. She says, “ Holocaust memoirs and historical fiction have always been books that I’ve gravitated towards. In my undergraduate degree (studying art history) I ended up taking an elective that was an intensive course in Holocaust studies and memorials that culminated in a two-week research trip across Poland.”
One of Perreault’s most memorable moments while working was listening to the oral testimonies from Holocaust survivors in person. “Those stories and memories stick out in my mind,” she said.
She says she connected with Dr. Katie Clary and Dr. Trish Biers, editors of Museums, Heritage, and Death, through the Death & Culture Conference in York. “I presented research on the human rights of the dead, dark tourism, and ossuaries. This was a one-off paper from a graduate course on death and memory but still one of my favourite research explorations into discourses surrounding dead bodies and their presentation/display,” she said.
You can find out more about Kelsey Perreault’s research and contact her on her website: www.kelseygraceperreault.com and check out her Instagram: @kelseygraceperreault
By Jesse Morgan, a Communication and Photography Student at Coastal Carolina University, USA.
Mors Mortis Museum 