Last Words:

Talking in Cemeteries

As part of The Conversation Series

With Christa Couture & Guests

Wednesday, June 18 - York Cemetery and Funeral Centre

Thursday, June 19  - Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Centres

Free

SUPPORTED BY:

The Event

What if a conversation could change the way you think about life—and death? 

As night falls, step through the gates of one of Toronto's historic cemeteries, drawn by the glow of soft, saturated light and distant music. Here, among centuries of stories etched in stone, an extraordinary evening unfolds. 

In this intimate gathering, historians bring the past into vivid focus, while contemporary voices share profound personal insights about mortality, meaning, and what it truly means to live. Together with fellow seekers, you'll explore the conversations we rarely have—about death, grief, legacy, and the unknown. 

This is not a lecture or performance. It's an invitation to break the silence around life's greatest mystery, to listen deeply, and to discover new perspectives in an atmosphere of openness and reflection. 

Part of the Luminato Conversation Series, Last Words: Talking in Cemeteries dares to bring the most inevitable, and often most avoided, subject into the light.

York Cemetery - June 18, 2025 - 8:30pm
Join Christa along with “quiet activist” Russell Powell and “cheerful nihilist” Mikiki for a discussion exploring the personal histories of HIV/AIDS in Toronto and along the way visit an accidental monument to hope. Purchased by William Watson at the height of the AIDS crisis, The Watson Plot, features three adjoining plots topped with pink granite monuments inscribed with the pink triangle. Indeed, Silence = Death, and yet even in death, Watson roared with hope. He left instructions for 120 dedicated graves to be given to fellow victims of the AIDS crisis…However, due to the development shortly after his death of new treatments and new attitudes, only five of these graves were used.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery - June 19, 2025 - 8:30pm

Surrounded by the graves of some of Toronto’s most famous city builders and historic figures, Christa will be joined by Kaliegh Trace, a long-time family therapist, author, and disability advocate recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Together we will encounter graves that celebrate family and community, and the many ways we create an understanding of legacy. In these surroundings, it’s clear to see how different families create contexts for their own love, grief, celebration of life, and commune with the past – and passed.

Both events begin with a 45-minute walk / journey through the cemetery on a paved, step free and flat path. Staff and volunteers will be available to offer support upon request.