Spread Your Ashes
What if you could become part of the world—not confined to one place, but integrated across the planet? Spread Your Ashes reimagines mortality and legacy by theorizing a service where you can prepare for your ashes to be spread at specific locations that matter deeply to you.
From the peaks of Mount Everest to the ancient stones of Machu Picchu, from bustling Tokyo to the quiet vastness of space itself—your essence becomes woven into the cultural sites, natural wonders, and sacred spaces that shaped who you were.
But this is about more than just your final resting places. It's about tracking the places that have shaped you throughout your life. Every location you visit leaves an imprint on your soul, and you leave something of yourself there in return.
Document your journey—the places you've been, the moments that mattered, the stories only you can tell. Even if you never return in life or death, you've left a little of yourself there and took a piece back with you.
Spread Your Ashes is a contemplative art project exploring themes of mortality, legacy, and planetary connection. It invites you to think deeply about:
Browse hundreds of culturally significant, spiritually meaningful, and naturally beautiful locations across the globe.
Track places you've visited, write your personal stories, and rate their importance in your life. Build a living map of your experiences.
Select locations where you want your ashes spread, see the full cost breakdown including legal requirements worldwide, and create your personalized legacy map.
Spread Your Ashes is a conceptual art project created by Joe A. Meléndez-Naharro.
This project explores the intersection of mortality, legacy, and our connection to place. It invites reflection on what locations shape our lives and where we might choose to leave our final mark on the world—turning the contemplation of death into a meditation on the places that make life meaningful.