Sunday, November 11, 2007

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)







Death is Democracy.
At the end of it all, everyone:
black, white, rich or poor -
all the world ends up being skeletons.


Jose Guadalupe Posada




The Day of the Dead has come and gone, and I want it to be here again.

What joy and surrealism comes out of these two days (1 and 2 Nov).
Graveyards all around the country are flooded with people and offerings and celebration.
Crazy skeleton exhibitions are seen everywhere - Jose Guadalupe Posada, one of my favourite Mexican artists, came up with this skeleton figure in the late 1900s in his caricaturas of daily life and politics. Now everything becomes a skeleton, and offerings tie in the daily life of people who are now dead.

I have included a picture of the offering we made in our apartment: We included food that was liked by loved ones that have died. All offerings should contain the four elements, as Julio's aunt taught me: Air (hanging paper) Earth (flowers) Fire (candles) and Water (glass of water).



I have also included some stunning photos of the offerings on the UNAM (national university) campus - check out the Rectory Building and its amazing Diego Rivera murals!

Also we went to a great concert of two beloved trova singers in the Zocalo on the evening of the Day of the Dead - great stuff!



The bad thing about the Day of the Dead is it brought on a big wave of sickness for me - I have only just overcome a horrid week of stomach upset and shocking flu! I definitely get sick more seriously here than in Australia.

Hope everyone enjoys the photos!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great photos and description Maddy. Wonderful philosophy on life and death.
Mum