ABSTRACT
The theoretical underpinning to the author's considerations originates in Donald W. Winnicott's transitional space, described by him as a sort of playground or "resting-place for the individual engaged in the perpetual human task of keeping inner and outer reality separate yet inter-related". This is an area of fantasy, play, and creativity placed somewhere between the self and the external world. A helpful image bridging over both space and time is that of the journey, a metaphor for psychoanalysis and indeed for life itself, in the sense of travel that almost disregards the departure and arrival points. The spatio-temporal bridge image seems particularly apt to describe cultural activities. A wonderful illustration of the importance of memories during and beyond our existence is provided by the Japanese film Afterlife. As one learns from one of the opening scenes framing an emblematic square of pure light, the setting of the movie is a metaphysical way-station between, or spatio-temporal bridge across, life and death.
