Deceased Sentient: an Eternal Reefs Memorial Centre at the Cape Recife Lighthouse and nature reserve, Port Elizabeth

Abstract

Life and Death. An endless cycle we see devoured, held, controlled by time. Always similar but never the same, yet the means in which we memorialise never changed. Traditional burial has always held the most dignity in civilisation, although Greek and Buddhist cultures has always upheld cremation. The evolution of burial has but remained variables of a gist in all beliefs and cultures where the origins and legitimacy are subject for a different debate. But is there a thread, or substance of the same origin, something that we as modern man can reconnect to in order to have a neutral goal for this life and the next one. Is mother earth our only salvation for this life and the afterlife? Do we only have these lands and waters for all eternity? We can predict very little, but learn a lot from the past. For destruction and discovery has led to this world, so what to do but reconstruct this haven as a heaven for all living beings. For our planet to be the sole haven, for what seems eternity, in order to preserve all life for only this life we have, evidently, must become human nature. Preserving nature has to be in our nature.