Photo credit : Rikke Louise Mandorf

“What Matters To You?” is a artistic event, giving participants opportunity to reflect on thoughts and wishes towards the last phase of life, while eating some cake.

The event is inspired by non-profit events such as Café Mortels, created by the Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, and Death Cafés, organized in England by Jon Underwood.

“What Matters To You?“ took place for the first time at Café Pegasus at Den Frie, Saturday 19th April from 2-6 pm 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Textile works  for this event included; 

Tablecloths 2,76x 140 cm (2 pieces)  90x90 cm (6 pieces), 3 pillows, fabric napkins 33x33 cm (60 pieces) and one Death Doula denim shirt.

The colour palette for the piece is inspired by the Danish Care-workers uniform; dark blue, light blue and off white. 

For the event at Café Pegasus the visiting dog Murphy (Trygfonden) was present. I first met Murphy in a palliative department in Copenhagen, where he has been visited terminal ill patients with his owner Tanja. 

On each table the participants could find a wooden holder with a piece of paper with this text on: 

 Please feel free to take a seat at this table. 

There is lying a textile napkin for you; if unfolded there is a question, an invitation to start a conversation with the person next to you. 

After this question you can move on to the questions on the tablecloth, please feel free to explore and discuss whichever catches your eye. 

In the small wooden box you will find more information about some of the phrases and ideas mentioned

 in the questions. 

If you have any questions about it all then please just come over to talk to me, Julie Born Schwartz - an artist who is also trained as a death doula. 

A death doula is an individual who provides non-medical care and support to a dying person, through creating space for conversations, active listening 

and empathy in the dying process.

When you are finished you are welcome to bring the textile napkin with you home, it is yours now. 

 Digital legacy?

If you have any social media accounts do you want to have them open for a while or closed? 

And what about potential emails and websites?

Also, who has your login details and passwords - 

so someone can help with closing them

 if that is what you wish for?

For the event there was served a cake. It was a dense chocolate brownie cake with a pink rasberry dust sprinkled on the surface. And on top of each cake top there was a chocolate swan. Images of swans and actual swans keeps appearing in my artistic PhD resaerch and during fieldwork.  

Some of my research books was lying on a table, these are books that has been read or and waiting to be read in relation to my artistic PhD project: 

“APPROACHING DEATH-transforming our conversation around fear of dying.”