Endeavored Composure examined global inequalities through the material and ritual dimensions of death. Coffins, burial practices, and family care became mirrors of social hierarchy, mortality, and privilege.

The project began in Dhaka, where a simple coffin cost around 20 USD and sat in a completely dark room. A Bengali love song, sung by a trishaw driver who had come seeking a better life, played from within. Only those who explored the darkness discovered the source.

In Graz, an ordinary coffin is typically made of stronger wood and costs between €1,000 and €5,000. Burial and cremation are far more expensive, with cemetery plots, interment, and long-term maintenance fees adding thousands of euros. Families in Bangladesh maintain graves modestly, visiting occasionally for prayers, while in Austria, graves are decorated, regularly visited, and carefully maintained for decades.

After an audience member who had rested in the coffin passed away soon after the exhibition in Dhaka, I made the difficult decision to stop the project.

This moment underscored the profound intimacy and vulnerability involved in confronting mortality, reinforcing the work’s exploration of life, death, and societal disparities.