I have this recurring thought that I should consider death more often and more deeply, that in general, at least in the Western society I live in, we all should consider death more often and more deeply: our death, the death of those we love and human death in a broad sense.
But even if recurring, this thought is usually a passing thought, lost among the too many thoughts of any single day.
That’s probably why I was appealed by this poster for the British Museum’s exhibition on the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, in which indeed a thorough consideration was given to the “afterlife”.
So there I was at 8:30 AM, changing trains in Leicester Square Tube Station on my way to work, my head between sleep and what laid in my working day ahead, suddenly -snap, wake up!- probed by a poster: "What happens after death?". And one line below: “Can you change into a bird?”.
The questions stayed with me as I continued walking along the underground corridor, thinking of death, of birds, of death and birds in underground corridors, on sleepy people walking along underground corridors rarely thinking of death, not to say turning into birds.
Damn it, they made me want to go and see the exhibition!
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British Museum. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: What happens after death? Can you change into a bird?
Leicester Square Station (LU)
London
