A collaboration between Mount Pleasant Group and Space for GriefTM
Yesterday. Today. Forever.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Launching June 28th
Installations at other locations will launch on July 20th
Overview
To commemorate its 200th anniversary, Mount Pleasant Group commissioned Space for Grief™ to create Yesterday. Today. Forever., a series of artistic and interpretive installations across their ten cemetery and funeral service locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
Yesterday. Today. Forever. explores how cemeteries connect people, stories, and generations.
Through public art, historical interpretation, and reflective experiences, the project invites visitors to discover the many ways these landscapes hold memory, shape community, and support remembrance.
At the heart of the installation are a series of colourful portals created from repurposed doors sourced from buildings across Toronto.
Each door represents a threshold between past and present, inviting visitors to consider the lives, stories, and histories that continue to shape these places.
Interpretive installations throughout the sites explore the land, local history, changing funeral and burial practices, ecology, architecture, community, and care.
Together, they reveal how cemeteries are more than places of burial. They are cultural landscapes where memory, nature, history, and everyday life intersect.
For nearly two centuries, Mount Pleasant Group has cared for places of remembrance while supporting individuals, families, and communities through loss. Yesterday. Today. Forever. builds on this legacy by creating new opportunities for reflection, learning, and connection.
Learn more about Mount Pleasant Cemetery and their sites here: mpg200.ca/installations
Event Highlights
Whether you are visiting to remember a loved one, explore local history, enjoy nature, or simply pause and reflect,
Yesterday. Today. Forever. offers an opportunity to experience these spaces in new ways.
About Space for GriefTM
Space for Grief™ is a public art and community initiative that creates opportunities for remembrance, reflection, and connection through art, storytelling, research, and community participation. Through immersive installations and public programming, Space for Grief™ works to make grief more visible, understood, and supported within everyday life.
About Mount Pleasant Group
Founded in 1826, Mount Pleasant Group is one of Canada's oldest and largest providers of cemetery, cremation, funeral, and bereavement services. Today, it cares for ten cemetery and funeral service locations across the Greater Toronto Area, preserving places of remembrance while helping individuals, families, and communities navigate loss with dignity and care.
Created by Space for GriefTM
Artists
Calla Lee
Fran Quintero Rawlings
Ziyan Hossain
Creative Leadership
The project's artistic vision, interpretive framework, and visitor experience were developed through interdisciplinary research, storytelling, design, and community engagement.
Creative Director
Ziyan Hossain
Artists (Concept, Installation Design, Research, Interpretation, and Story Development)
Ziyan Hossain, Calla Lee, and Fran Quintero Rawlings
Interpretive Signage and Storytelling
Interpretive installations throughout the project explore memory, history, ecology, community, grief, and care through stories drawn from archival research, historical records, and contemporary perspectives.
Lead Writer and Creative Direction
Ziyan Hossain
Research, Archival Research, and Editorial Support
Fran Quintero Rawlings
Graphic Design
The visual identity and interpretive graphics were designed to support exploration, reflection, and accessibility across the installation.
Graphic Designers
Calla Lee, and Ziyan Hossain
Indigenous Consultant
Liz Barron
Indigenous Guidance
Indigenous perspectives and guidance helped inform the project's approach to land, history, memory, and place.
Music and Sound
Production Support
Edmund Law
Ishan Juneja
Elise Walton
Keir Brennan
Sarah Dopp
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Indigenous perspectives and guidance helped inform the project's approach to land, history, memory, and place.
Indigenous Consultant
Liz Barron
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Created from repurposed doors sourced from buildings across Toronto, the portals serve as symbolic thresholds between past and present, inviting visitors to reflect on memory, connection, and the stories that shape our lives.
Design and Installation
Ziyan Hossain, Calla Lee, and Fran Quintero RawlingsFabrication
Edmund LawEngineering Support
Ishan Juneja
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Originally created for Space for Grief™'s immersive installations, the Monoliths combine projected imagery, moving image, sound, and storytelling to create contemplative experiences that explore remembrance, grief, and connection.
Visual Direction and Production
Ziyan Hossain
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The Memory Garden creates a space for reflection and participation, inviting visitors to contribute their own memories and experiences as part of the installation.
Production Support
Elise Walton, Sarah Dopp, Keir Brennan
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Visual Media
Ziyan Hossain and Justin BlakeProduction Support
Elise Walton
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The installation incorporates select archival materials, historical photographs, maps, illustrations, and public domain visual resources sourced from archives, libraries, museums, and collections.
Project Support
Mount Pleasant Group Staff
This project was made possible through the support, knowledge, and dedication of staff across Mount Pleasant Group's cemetery, funeral, cremation, horticulture, maintenance, customer service, and leadership teams.