ABSTRACT
Irrespective of environment, the gifts left on gravesides, public monuments and temporary memorials signify a more or less shared signification. When the new rituals at gravesides, monuments and memorials first took place in Sweden, a common understanding was that this was a result of an immediate influence from cemeteries and roadside shrines in Catholic-dominated countries. The cemeteries with their graves and headstones are planned for long-term use, completed with short-term and seasonal graveside decorations. Spontaneous memorials in the streets are ephemeral emotional outbursts. The purpose of artifacts left at monuments and memorials is seldom that they will be of use for research and exhibitions in the same way as other collections, which further demonstrates their distinct character and agency. Hence, how the museums act may play a role in the development of the materiality, meaning and agency of contemporary artifacts in the context of death and mourning.
