Stories in Stone 2026 - Cemetery Heritage Conference

About

The theme for this year's conference is 'Explorations', and the varied range of wonderful presenters include cemetery and local historians, researchers and volunteers, fiction authors, end-of-life doulas, curators, and musicians - every one of them passionate about preserving and exploring our memorial heritage.

Their perspectives will cover how we share stories and memory in cemeteries; discovering lost graves; cemeteries as a source of inspiration in creating fiction; the art of talking (and singing) about death; grave architecture; religious segregation in historical cemeteries; music and grief; and what we can learn from the objects left on graves.

The setting is the beautiful funeral chapel on Kelvin Grove Road, Kelvin Grove. This conference follows on from the successful ‘Stories in Stone’ events held in 2024 and 2025.

Stories in Stone is a not-for-profit event and is presented in partnership by the Stories in Stone organising committee and Queensland Cemetery Heritage and Arts Association (Inc.), with the generous support of White Lady Funerals.

Lunch and morning and afternoon tea breaks will be provided at no extra charge.

2026 Conference Programme

8:30 - Registration

9:00 - Welcome

9:15 - SESSION 1

• Kelly Burstow (researcher; creator - ‘Cemetery as Place’) ‘Filling the Gaps: What Objects Tell Us About Cemeteries and Grief’
• Werona Armstrong (researcher) ‘Sectarianism in the Cemetery - Mapping the Denominational Divisions in the Redcliffe Cemetery’