Two framed black-and-white photographs stand on light wooden easels in a bright gallery. The left image shows a person in a bathtub reflected in a mirror, whilst the right image shows a person leaning over a bed. Large windows with views of brick buildings are visible behind them.

The Death Café led by Rebecca Illing

Death Doula Rebecca Illing is hosting a Death Café, expanding on the themes of grief, loss and illness that run through Katherine Hubbard’s exhibition The Great Room.

A death doula is a non-medical companion who provides holistic emotional, practical and spiritual support to individuals and their families before, during, and after death

A Death Café is an informal, facilitated conversation about death and dying, with tea and cake. Sharing is always optional, and you are welcome to simply listen. There will be a break halfway through the session and a quiet space will be available if you need a moment alone. Visitors can take part in a guided tour of the exhibition. As the conversation may touch on personal experiences of loss, we encourage participants to take care in whatever way feels right.

Illing is a compassionate and dedicated death doula whose work centres on fostering open, meaningful conversations around death and dying within her community. With a deep commitment to shifting societal perspectives, Rebecca is passionate about addressing the alienation we often feel toward death and the tendency to engage with mortality only when it is too late.

Lead Programme Supporters: The Ampersand Foundation and James Lambert. Programme Supporters: The Henry Moore Foundation and The Elephant Trust. With additional support from Bella Kesoyan. Studio Voltaire’s Programmes are core funded by The Studio Voltaire Council.

  1. Rebecca Illing is a death doula who offers personalised, one-on-one sessions to clients seeking to explore their own lives, better understand their mortality, and prepare consciously for death. She also provides invaluable support to families and friends navigating illness and grief. Additionally, Rebecca leads bereavement retreats in Portugal and hosts the Death Cafe at The Hearth, offering a safe space for individuals to gather, share, and reflect on the many aspects of death and dying. Through her work, Rebecca strives to create environments where the topics of life, death, and everything in between can be explored openly, with care and respect.

  2. Katherine Hubbard (b. 1981, Philadelphia, lives and works in New York). Recent solo exhibitions include The great room, Company Gallery, New York (2023); Avoid glancing blows, Company Gallery, New York (2020); Katherine Hubbard, Higher Pictures, New York (2018); stages, Baxter St. Camera Club of New York, New York (2017); and Bring your own lights, The Kitchen, New York (2016). Group exhibitions include Time Management Techniques, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2022); Ecstatic Land, Marfa Ballroom, Texas (2022); A Collection of Slow Events, The Luminary, St. Louis, Missouri (2017); The Artist’s Museum, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2016); and Greater New York, MoMA PS1 (2015).

    Hubbard’s performances have been presented at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas; Konstfack, Stockholm, Sweden; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Her work is included in the permanent collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

    Hubbard is a 2024 Guggenheim fellow in photography and received her MFA in 2010 from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College and is currently an Associate Professor and MFA Program Faculty Director at Pratt School of Art.

  3. If you have any questions or need assistance with your visit, please feel welcome to contact us at +44 (0) 20 7622 1294 or info@studiovoltaire.org. Read Studio Voltaire's full access information here.

Free, booking essential

Tuesday 8 December 2026, 6.30–8.30 pm

Book
An art gallery features multiple framed black-and-white photographs by Katherine Hubbard mounted on freestanding wooden frames. The room has high vaulted ceilings with dark wooden beams and large arched windows at the far end.

Katherine Hubbard
The Great Room

Exhibition

Curator-led Tour: Katherine Hubbard, The Great Room and Bill Walton, A Form Of Honesty

Event
A laptop screen displays a close-up video call of an older woman with short dark hair and glasses. The laptop sits on a wooden desk cluttered with a packet of cigarettes, an external hard drive, a mobile phone, a notepad, and sunglasses.

Chantal Akerman, 'No Home Movie' Screening

Event