Workshops on Dying is a storytelling-based workshop led by writer and reporter Katarzyna Boni, created as part of the 7th edition of the We Do Festival of Contemporary Polish Arts & Culture: Turning Point.

We invite you to an intimate and transformative experience where participants will reflect on life, death, and the things they value most. Inspired by Japanese death-experience journeys (Shi no taiken ryokō), the workshop offers a safe space to confront mortality while rediscovering what makes life meaningful. Through guided exercises and shared stories, participants will reconnect with forgotten desires and open conversations often avoided.

Katarzyna Boni say’s:

“Participants describe them as transformative–opening conversations about death, reconnecting them with their dreams, and helping them embrace life more fully.”

Workshop highlights

• Guided by Katarzyna Boni, participants will take part in a unique storytelling journey that shifts perspective on life and loss.
• Using a set of twenty colored cards, participants will reflect on what truly matters to them–writing down people, dreams, and values most precious.
• During the workshop, participants will listen to the story of a dying person and symbolically let go of their cards, mirroring the experience of loss.

The process creates space to ask profound questions:

• What do I truly value?
• What have I been neglecting?
• How do I want to live more fully?

The workshop is designed in small groups, allowing for closeness, dialogue, and reflection. Each participant will leave with a renewed perspective on life–described by many as transformative.

About the Artist

Katarzyna Boni is a writer and reporter whose work explores trauma, mourning, resilience, and the climate crisis. She is the author of Ganbare! Workshops on Dying, Auroville: City of Dreams, Container, and Which Way to the Exit? (2025). Winner of the European Press Prize, she also develops social projects such as Workshops on Dying and the Wind Phone in Poland.