The Virgin of Guadalupe Photo Essay: From Primitive to Painterly
The Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City is featuring a special exhibition about the Virgin of Guadalupe. The images include primitive figures in carved wood, elaborate paintings and wood carvings from church altars, woven and embroidered textiles, and contemporary 2016 photographs by Federico Gama taken at the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City. Why am […]
Explaining Day of the Dead to Friends
Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — is one of the many Mexican holidays that blend Spanish Catholicism with pre-Hispanic, indigenous mystical rites. Despite political rhetoric, with a culturally permeable border, Halloween has crept into Mexico and sugar skulls have crept into the U.S. My friend Sue said, I thought Day of […]
Getting Ready for Day of the Dead in Durham, NC
Durham, North Carolina is a long way from Oaxaca, Mexico — or so it seems. So many Latino families live in our region that while it is not as easy to construct a traditional Day of the Dead altar, it is not impossible. Recently, I discovered La Superior Super Tienda Y Taqueria in the Braggtown section […]
Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, Coming Soon
It’s time to turn my attention to the annual celebration of Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — when memories return to the people we love who have dropped their bodies and whose souls rest in peace. In this PBS Series, Borders, this story of Latinos celebrating Day of the Dead in […]
Preparing for Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead is coming soon. Festivities in Oaxaca will begin in the next few days, and people are now gathering what they need for home altars to honor their deceased loved ones: palm branches to create an arch over the altar through which loved ones pass from the otherworld — a gateway to […]
On The Road, Again: Leaving Oaxaca, Hello North Carolina, California and India
If I had Willie Nelson’s voice and guitar picking skills, I’d give you a personal performance. But, my elementary school glee club (mandatory) teacher asked me to mouth the words. You might like to hear him sing, once again. Willie Sings: On The Road Again I left Oaxaca early this morning and now overnight in […]
One-Day Mixed Media Art Workshop: Personal Altars and Shrines
One Day, February 25, 2016, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. OR One Day, February 26, 2016, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fee: $35 USD/650 MXN pesos OR take both days for $65 USD/1220 MXN pesos You do not need to have an art background to participate. This is about having fun, exploring and experimentation! All […]
Remembering Frida Kahlo: Icon of Passion and Pain
We ended the four-day Looking for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Art History Study Tour in Mexico City with a morning at Casa Azul and the Frida Kahlo Museum followed by an afternoon at the Dolores Olmedo Patiño Museum. (I’ll be setting 2016 dates soon. Contact me to be notified.) Frida Kahlo is a great […]
Marigolds and Altars: Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico
The campo (countryside) is a blanket of tiny yellow flowers called cempasuchitl or wild marigolds that come up in southern Mexico this time of year. It’s less than a week before Day of the Dead here in Oaxaca. Preparations have begun. My friend Guadalupe was at the casita yesterday and she explained that the intense […]
Evoking Frida Kahlo: Making Memory Altars and Shrines
Mexico is filled with altars that usually include sacred images and a Virgin of Guadalupe retablo. During Day of the Dead a family altar displays photographs of departed loved ones. We are taking this mixed media art workshop, based in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, beyond the norm to create a three-dimensional altar suitable for display. Frida […]
Building a Dia de los Muertos Altar: Send Us Your Photos
Wherever you are, I invite you to send me your Dia de los Muertos Altar photos. They should be no larger than 150 KB and sent as an email attachment (any larger and they won’t be considered). One photo per person! They need to arrive in my inbox by midnight, November 1, 2013. I will […]
Day of the Dead Altar by Duke University Latino/a Studies Students
About 40 students gathered at Duke University last night to build a traditional Oaxaca Day of the Dead altar with Eric Chavez Santiago and his sister Janet, visitors from Oaxaca, Mexico. The students are members of Mi Gente, a group that is sponsored by the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South at Duke. […]