DAY OF THE DEAD ALTAR
DAY OF THE DEAD ALTAR
Special Installation
Oct 30, 2010 - Nov 28, 2010
Collection Source: Mingei International Museum
In the Rotunda
An annual celebration in Mexico, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) welcomes the souls of loved ones, who return each year on November 1 and 2 to enjoy for a few hours the pleasures they once knew in life. Elaborate altars erected in cemeteries and private homes afford friends and family the opportunity to reunite and celebrate with the departed. In collaboration with the Mexican Consulate in San Diego and the University of Tijuana, an altar decorated with objects from daily life, tissue paper garlands and sugar skulls is on view in the Museum’s rotunda. This year’s altar honors the acclaimed Mexican journalist, critic and activist Carlos Monsivais (1938-2010).
Carlos Monsivais, described by the Los Angeles Times as “an enormously erudite man of letters who never lost touch with ordinary people,“ wrote numerous essays, biographies and magazine articles on subjects ranging from politics and the character of life in Mexico, and particularly in Mexico City, to football, art and film criticism. Active in many social causes, Monsivais worked for the rights of the downtrodden. He was a patron of the arts, an avid collector, interested in popular culture and devoted to his 20 cats. He founded both El Museo de Estanquillo and Gatos Olivados, an organization to care for “forgotten cats.”
The Days of the Dead are at once patriotic, festive, personal and sacred — official holidays that are also holy days in which celebrants seek their reflection in the black mirror of Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of the night sky, to discover the vanity of earthly effort. Since everything is temporary, the celebrants sing and dance with the departed who have attained perfection and wisdom.
The offerings on the Day of the Dead are possibly the most important ritual of the year. An altar is placed in the best place in the house to honor and welcome the spirits of deceased relatives. An image or images of the deceased are placed at the center. Corn, the sacred plant that assures the continuation of life, is then placed on the altar. Large votive candles in glass jars with religious imagery serve as beacons to guide each soul to its respective altar. It is said that foods lose their flavor and aroma because the souls take their essence. To assure that the departed arrive in the right place, marigold petals show the departed, visiting from Heaven, the entrance to their old homes.
