Dutch Design Week: at the Design Academy Eindhoven graduation galleries last week, designer Roos Kuipers presented an open coffin where the dead body is gradually covered in layers of fabric.
Called Mark the Last Veil, the piece is made of elm with rounded corners and slots in the side to accommodate six layers of bamboo, cotton and silk fabric.
The veils would be draped over the corpse one at a time and tucked into the opposite side, gradually obscuring the mourners' view of the body.
Photographs are by Rene van der Hulst.
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Here's some more information from Kuipers:
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Project: Mark the last veil
Description: At a funeral, the closing of the coffin is often a grim moment. A hard, abrupt action that is inappropriate for the sensitive and emotional grieving and mourning process. Roos Kuipers designed an open coffin made of traditional elm, with round, soft forms that softens this moment. Six transparent veils of bamboo, cotton and silk hang from its side. At the moment of leave-taking, the veils are layered over the body one by one, by which the image of the deceased is gradually obscured. By tucking the veils layer by layer into a groove in the wood, the body of the deceased is similarly ‘tucked in’ with loving care and respect.