Day of the Dead 2018

Tiny details visible and hidden. For Selena.
Created by Spanish language students.
Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dia de los Muertos is widely celebrated publicly throughout the U.S. in urban LatinX communities. This year I found Tlalnepantla Arts' Festival de las Calaveras in the Twin Cities, which included events every weekend in October, culminating on Day of the Dead, November 1, 2, 3. I visited the Tlalnepantla Arts' exhibition of LatinX art and watched presentations by learned artists and scholars live-streamed on the festival's Facebook.

Locally, I was invited to judge shoe box altars created by several Spanish language classes at Gustavus Adolphus College. I loved doing this activity because it evoked the memory of having observed judging of a competition of ofrendas at a community college during my 2001 trip to Patzcuaro, Michoacan. 

Shoebox altars are small, of course, but one can transform even a shoe box into a thing of beauty and meaning. Sample ofrendas are pictured here, by permission of students who created them, and were judged according to the following criteria: whether a minimal number of traditional elements were present as required, such as a photo, flowers, an arc, a favorite food, water, salt, etc.; the quality of design and creativity, including attention to detail; the impact of the predominant theme and its meaning; the authenticity. I did not give undue weight to whether or not the ofrenda was well informed by tradition because contemporary iterations of ofrendas are becoming increasingly varied. 

Classic design. For Frida Kahlo.

A diverse group of males memorialized.

The floor is carpeted with paper flowers. For Selena.

I feel humble and grateful to have been a judge of students' ofrendas this year. I am not Latina; I am white, of European descent. I do have the memory of experiences in several locations in Mexico with Dia de los Muertos, where I observed traditions carried out privately and publicly. I have also read widely about Dia de los Muertos, and I continue to learn its history and traditions. Some people say Dia de los Muertos belongs to the indigenous people within whose religious beliefs and practice it was conceived and is still celebrated. Others say Dia de los Muertos also belongs to the present, to people who respect and learn about its foundations, and reinterpret and practice it in new ways. 

Contemplative photo. Crafty blue slide. For Mac Miller.

In today's LatinX communities artists are working to realize Dia de los Muertos in exhibition, presentation, community conversation and performance, including music and dance, all heightening awareness of the holiday in society, and importantly, relating it to social justice. So, LatinX communities are in a sense remixing Day of the Dead traditions, refitting them with contemporary aesthetic and social justice concerns. I hope and believe I, too, and others who love the holiday can continue not only to act as observers but as participants in remembering our dead with respect and creativity on Dia de los Muertos.

For slain members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Bright colors. A three wicks candle. For a student's dad.