A time dedicated to perinatal bereavement

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Once a year at Saint-Georges cemetery, the Undertakers, Cemeteries and Crematorium Service of the City of Geneva dedicates a precious moment to parents and families dealing with the loss of a child. Parents can write personal messages and slip them inside a wind chime which is then hung on a hundred-year-old cedar tree.

A unique symbolism

This ceremony offers those concerned the opportunity to experience a moment of remembrance dedicated to their child to the backdrop of the wind chimes. This installation remains in place for an entire month, bearing witness to the symbolic presence of the child.

While no words can describe such an ordeal, this important event provides bereaved parents with a moment of recollection and a little comfort, a grave for the child and, most importantly, acknowledgement of their time on Earth by honouring their memory.

The artistic work designed by Carmen Perrin consists of 49 wind chimes and creates a place that is both transient and permanent, echoing the lives of the deceased children. This ceremony is organised by the Undertakers, Cemeteries and Crematorium Service of the City of Geneva in collaboration with  the association Kaly, which supports people dealing with the death of a baby or a young child.