«Sad Imeni» ("Named Garden") — a public memorial complex opened in 2019 in the inner courtyard of a private crematorium at Zaitsev Street, 27, in the Sormovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod. The project was created by artists Artyom Filatov and Aleksey Korsi.[3]
Concept and Design
The project engages with the theme of the fear of death: the authors draw on the method of "paradoxical intention" — approaching the object of one's fear — and trace the evolution of attitudes toward death across different eras, aiming to create a space for a new, more conscious perception of loss.[1] The concept references the culture of natural burial, the tradition of scattering ashes, and eco-cemeteries.[3]
By design, the complex is a functioning botanical garden conceived for continuous transformation over time. In addition to living plants, it incorporates modern technologies: acoustics, botany, and computer programming.[3] A sound installation plays a composition resembling a prayer: its text consists of the enumeration of the Latin names of all external parts of the human body and internal organs. The organizers describe it as a "desacralized prayer" working "in unison with the act of cremation."[2] The installation is activated manually — upon request to the crematorium administration or security staff.[3]
On the project's website (namegarden.ru), anyone can register the name of a deceased loved one in a virtual database and symbolically dedicate one of the garden's plants to them.[2]
Opening and Venue
The opening took place on 6 July 2019 at 14:00. A shuttle bus was arranged for visitors from Minin and Pozharsky Square to the crematorium.[1] The Nizhny Novgorod crematorium, opened in 2017, is the only private crematorium serving Nizhny Novgorod Region and the surrounding regions; approximately 20 cremations are carried out there each day.[3] As a partner in the project, the crematorium positions the garden as a space for dialogue about loss and for shaping "a qualitatively new culture of the end of earthly existence."[3]
During the summer season, the garden is open daily from 11:00 to 19:00. The nearest public transport stop is "Tserkov Vsekh Svyatykh" (Church of All Saints), approximately 1.3 km from the crematorium.[3]
Sources
- Vremya N — The "Named Garden" memorial complex to open at the Nizhny Novgorod crematorium (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — A botanical garden, sound installations, and eternal memory. Contemporary artists will change the attitude toward death at the Nizhny Novgorod crematorium (archive)
- namegarden.ru — Named Garden (archive)
Materials from the following articles were used (1)
Approval of the site for the construction of a crematorium in Dzerzhinsk (2026)