Jonat Deelstra

Marine Protected Areas in the Dutch North-Sea are habitually disturbed by bottom trawlers. To provide the areas with additional protection, Jonat Deelstra wants to turn them into underwater graveyards, where grave rest has to be honoured just as it is on land. During his residency, he built several ceramic vessels large enough to hold a folded dead person’s body. Sunk to the bottom of the sea, the vessels will attract marine life like molluscs, weeds, crabs or starfish to restore the habitats damaged by commercial fishing. Deelstra also created open ceramic coffins reminiscent of small boats or rectangular shells to bury the deceased in a more traditional, horizontal position. Marine scientists welcome his ecological activism and funeral directors are happy to include this seaman’s grave in their services. Meanwhile, Deelstra’s grandfather found a final resting place off the coast from Kenya, in a coral reef restoration zone.