Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage

Roch Maher is a guest of honour at his own funeral. It’s emotional and strangely cathartic, but should he be there? Roch has motor-neurone disease and the end is near, but he is struggling to cope. Inspired by a visit to Indonesia, where families process their grief by living with the dead body of their loved one, can artist Grayson Perry help Roch face his fears to have a good death?

Traditions are supposed to help us cope with life’s big moments. Without them we’re lost. Artist Grayson Perry is looking for the gaps in our lives that our traditions no longer reach. When half of marriages end in divorce, why is there no rite of passage to normalise the experience? Can a new type of ceremony, inspired by a Shinto wedding, help a divorcing couple make peace with the end of love?

Aside from gender reveal parties and their toll on our emergency services, what are the new rituals that have sprung up to celebrate birth? How do you mark the beginning of a life in a meaningful way and adapt to changing experiences of birth? How do you celebrate an adoption? A surrogacy? A prematurely born infant in neonatal care? Artist Grayson Perry is determined to provide an update.

Growing up is hard. And with the added pressures of cyberbullying, sexting and trolling to navigate, and no rite of passage to guide them, the challenge is doubly huge for modern teens. In the Amazon, artist Grayson Perry takes inspiration from a shocking coming of age ceremony to help prepare some British teens and a group of recovering addicts to take steps to move forward with their lives.