Kelly Burstow
I will share insights from my research into how everyday people experience and engage with South Brisbane Cemetery - a space that functions both as an important historical landmark and a quiet, often unnoticed part of urban life.
Through 28 interviews conducted across the seasons, I gathered a diverse range of perspectives: from commuters who use the cemetery as a shortcut, to people with ancestral ties, local volunteers, government workers, and casual visitors. These conversations offer a rich portrait of how this space is lived in and lived through.
At the heart of my findings is the idea of the historic cemetery as a liminal place - a curious, in-between space that sits at the threshold between life and death. As a ‘deathscape’ the cemetery is more than a place of memory. It’s a setting where people quietly negotiate their presence in a world that bridges the living and the departed.
I explore how visitors engage with this liminal space in varied and often surprising ways - from leisurely walks and moments of reflection to creative practices and acts of care. Many participants described the cemetery as a peaceful sanctuary, a place of stillness and perspective amid the pressures of modern life. For some, it offered time to pause, reflect, and connect with both personal histories and broader narratives of the past.
I will discuss how the cemetery is not only a site of memorialisation for the dead, but also a space for the living, where people interact with its natural and historical elements, form personal connections with its stories, and respectfully navigate its liminal qualities. Ultimately, the stories shared by participants highlight the quiet, yet powerful role that cemeteries can play in urban life - offering rare opportunities to reflect on time, presence, and our relationship with mortality.
About Kelly
For Kelly, the study of death, grief, and the role of cemeteries is deeply personal. After losing her mother in her twenties, she experienced firsthand how cemeteries can evolve into vital social spaces, becoming a regular meeting place for her and her three sisters. This personal journey led her to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), earning the University Medal for her project Between Abandonment and Multifunctional Greenspace: Historic Urban Cemeteries as Entangled Liminal Places. Kelly’s research, which centres on everyday experiences at South Brisbane Cemetery, has been presented locally and internationally, inspiring broader conversations about how communities engage with spaces of remembrance. Kelly is the creator of the Cemetery as Place website, and a member of Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery.
