Over three days, Sutherland Pavilion becomes a space for reflection, encounter and transformation in Momento mori—a black box series exploring the fragility of our lives.

Drawn from the Latin phrase Memento mori, meaning “remember that you must die,” the series brings together three works shaped by women’s voices: theatre, contemporary dance and a contemporary opera recital. Each considers mortality not as an ending, but as a presence woven into every moment of living.

Across performance, sound, image and movement, the works invite audiences to contemplate time, memory, loss and the fragile beauty of existence. From the skull and hourglass to the wilting flower and the extinguished flame, the symbols of memento mori have long reminded us that earthly achievements, pleasures and identities are temporary. Yet these reminders need not be only sombre. To acknowledge death is also to sharpen our awareness of life: to notice the passing hour, value connection and recognise the extraordinary within the ordinary.

Momento mori is a series about disappearance and presence, grief and renewal, endings and beginnings. Enter the dark. Stay with the moment. Remember that life is brief—and that, for precisely this reason, it matters.