Day of the Dead Traveling Exhibit

Transcription

1 Day of the Dead Traveling Exhibit The Outreach office owns the exhibition; "Dando Vida a la Muerte: Mexican Day of the Dead, an Altar in the Mexican Tradition." This exhibition includes many objects which may be used in planning an altar display. Those wishing to borrow this exhibit can construct their own altar or use existing display space. The Duke-UNC Program can help with this planning. History of Mexican Day of the Dead The traditions surrounding the Mexican Day of the Dead, its history throughout the past thousands of years and its meaning for us today are complex and worthy of many hours of study and discussion. El Día de los Muertos in Mexico is a joyous and a somber time, a time to welcome the souls of the dead, a celebration, in which the living and the dead are joined if even for a short time. In some ways it is a triumph over death and therefore becomes a celebration of life. Those we love are given back to us if only for a brief time. It is celebrated in many Latin American countries but nowhere to the extent it is in Mexico. November first is for the departed children, los angelitos and November second for the departed adults. If in Mexico on those days, you will not be able to escape the festivities as it is a national holiday. For days before, the marketplaces are filled with special toys made of papel maché (paper mache), or alfeñiques (candies) and papel picado (paper cutouts), all in the shapes of skeletons or calaveras. Special day of the dead bread is baked at home and also sold in the panaderías (bakeries). The

2 predominating colors for this holiday are black, purple, white, pink, yellow and gold. Markets are where you go to buy candles, incense and flowers. Flowers are very important on this day and the traditional flower, the cempasúchil (cem-pa-such-il) or orange marigold was used by the pre-colombian people on gravesites and is considered the flower of the Toltec goddess Xochiquetzal (soh-chee-ket-sahl) who was the guardian of the graves. Baby's breath, coxcombs, white amaryllis and wild purple orchids called flower of the souls are also prevalent on altars and graves. Although the Day of the Dead in Mexico has a public aspect, at the community level it is essentially a private or family feast. The core of the celebration is within the family home. There is nothing somber or macabre about the event. The dead comes as spirits from another world to be with their living relations and to visit in their homes not to scare or haunt as Halloween spirits do. When children in the US are shouting "trick or treat" and trying to terrify each other, Mexican children are either home helping with the many preparations for the day. It is also possible that today, especially in urban areas, they are running through the streets with their plastic or squash carved like a skull asking "no me da mi holloween?" (won't you give me something for Halloween?) and expecting to be given money not candy. The customs sound similar but the philosophy and ideas behind them is very different. Our tradition of All Hallows Eve, or Halloween in the U.S. came from an ancient Celtic festival of fire, known as Samhain and had its origins before Christianity. This celebration took place primarily in England, Scotland and Wales. The 31st of October was an

3 important day to the Celts and among other things was dedicated to the end of the life cycle. It was believed that during Samhain demons and witches roamed the streets stealing children, destroying the crops, and terrorizing the population in general. It was also believed that the spirits of loved ones visited their families in search of warmth and affection. Large bonfires were build to guide the spirits to their homes. In Europe, around 750 A.D., in an attempt to eliminate or assimilate all pagan rites still in practice, the church instituted November 1 as All Saints Day. In the 13th century, All Souls Day was established on November 2 specifically for those souls of the Catholic faith who had passed away. In Medieval times, traditions included the decoration of graves, all night vigils and special church services in honor of the departed. These traditions were prevalent in Europe and Spain, and the Spanish conquistadores, colonists and priests who came to the Americas brought these customs with them. On the evening of November second, the families gather in their local graveyard all night to visit with the souls. Newly cleaned graves are decorated with candles, cempachuschitl flowers and food. Children play, men wander in and out and it is generally the women who keep the vigil talking among themselves in quite chatter with sleeping babies in their arms. Sometimes a band or only a few musicians are present to play music to gladden the departed. Food is laid out in churches or on specially constructed community altars for those who have no family to welcome them. Church services are important mainly in urban areas. The activities in the churches and the cemeteries are more influenced by European Catholic traditions brought by the early Spanish settlers. Much of

4 the evening festival has a lighthearted mocking edge to it. Parades are staged in which couples masquerade as skeletons dressed up perhaps as bride and groom and cavort through the streets of the towns. Satirical death advertisements, mock obituaries, cartoons loaded with political commentary and humorous poetry are widely circulated. Anyone can be the object of good-natured teasing. The skull was an important symbol of death and sacrifice in the pre-colombian period but the figure of a satirical and comic death is a more recent phenomenon. It was probably in the eighteenth century that pictures and models of Death as comic skeletons were first made. Puppets, masks, figures made of clay, cardboard, toys and candies began to fill the Mexican markets using the image of the skeleton and all received the same name- calavera. In the twentieth century Jose Guadalupe Posada ( ) had a lot to do with this representation of the human skeleton. Posada was an engraver and artist who did his most famous work during the late 19th century in Mexico City under the regime of Porfirio Díaz. Posada provided cartoon illustrations to many popular tabloids which were specifically geared to the masses. His illustrations in many cases were satirical commentaries on the events of the era and all elements of society. Around the Day of the Dead, Posada and publisher Antonio Vaneges Arroyo published the well known broadsheets or Calaveras which satirized all elements of society and particularly the upperclass and government officials. These sheets were then sold to the crowds by papaleros or newspaper boys. Living under the political repression

5 and social inequality of the Porfirian years, death was portrayed as a great equalizer of injustice. Today, these broadsheets are still published and the satirization of the bourgeoisie, the government, the church continues. In the Mexico of today, the Day of the Dead is a tradition rapidly changing. Some of the best known celebrations are in state of Oaxaca, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, and the town of Mixquic, near Mexico City. As Carlos Monsiváis tell us that in Mixquic and Pátzcuaro the cameras have come to outnumber the candles in the cemeteries: "Kodak takes possession and Mexico has sold its cult of death and the tourists smile anthropologically satiated" (in Carmicheal & Sayer 1991: 9). Each year they attract more tourists, and are becoming more commercialized. Celebrations in general are now livelier, more like a holiday not a holy day. The concept and customs of festival are now featured in cultural centers in the United States such as the Galería de la Raza and the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, the Fine Arts Center and Museum in Chicago, and the Mexican Cultural Center in Washington, and the Bronx Museum in New York. Why? Perhaps because in contrast to Halloween which is filled with demons, witches and images of terror, the Day of the Dead is distinctively different. It demonstrates a strong sense of love and respect for one's ancestors, celebrates the continuance of life, family relationships, community solidarity, allows people to talk about death and even finds humor in death. In this way Death loses some of its terror. These are all positive concepts.