Grief is strange. Different emotional states intersect, throw us off balance, disrupt plans, and scatter things in all directions. Needs become unpredictable. And often, even those closest to us don’t know how to deal with someone else’s grief, which only deepens the loneliness. The Casa Coco Grief Collective wants to change that. Because we are all grieving: losses, the world, ourselves, and the people we love. When Anne Meekers‘ daughter, Coco, was stillborn in the eighth month of pregnancy in 2023, her life turned upside down. With her own grief, she often felt as if she were living in a world that wasn’t hers. Searching for spaces for her emotions, she turned to the grief support offerings in Berlin, only to find herself rarely feeling seen. A situation that feels strikingly paradoxical, given Berlin is otherwise a city where there seems to be an offering for every need or desire. Yet our Western approach to grief is still shaped by taboos and assumptions. And there are still fixed ideas about how mourning is supposed to look. The spaces, rituals, and images Anne encountered felt alien. At the same time, she repeatedly experienced how grief can bring people unexpected closeness. From this, her Grief Collective emerged.
She began organizing the events she once wished for herself: spaces for exchange, for shared experience, and for the many forms grief can take. Grief is a continuous transformation — it shifts, grows, resurfaces unexpectedly, and takes on new forms. The workshops and gatherings approach the topic from various angles through writing, floral installations, nature-based experiences, and ritual practices. Participants explore their emotions through materials, texts, conversations, or landscapes. At the center is the belief that every manifestation of grief is valid, because grief does not end with death or loss. Often, it marks the beginning of a transitional phase. She holds her workshops in the family’s weekend house in Kleinmachnow. A house originally designed for four, which took on a new life through grief. She has named it Casa Coco.
Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Anna Rose
Casa Coco Grief Collective
Präzise Unschärfe – An organic sculpture workshop 14.06.2026
Zwischen Trost Writing Workshop 22.06.2026
Summer Sunset Ritual 29.06.2026
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@casacocoberlin
