Published: October 02, 2007
Annual Days of the Dead Exhibit, Los Dias de Muertos
The exhibit for the Days of the Dead is more than just an exhibit, it is an offering.
Many cultures have celebrations that commemorate their ancestors. Mexico's celebration is the Days of the Dead; los Dias de Muertos. The Aztec people of Mexico did not fear death. Life on earth was harsh; they envisioned an afterlife where warriors and children become hummingbirds and butterflies, where infants who had died at birth suckle at a heavenly nursing tree, where their dead are never judged but live in eternal happiness, and where life was seen as a brief dream on the way to death, the only reality.
Today, the Days of the Dead can be a carnival. Children dress up in ghoulish costumes. They beg for treats such as, Calaveras (candy skulls). Everyone buys pan de muerto bread decorated with a pattern of bones.
This is also a time for families to reunite and to remember those who have died. People go to market to buy special foods and other favorite items that are needed for the ofrenda or offering for the souls of the departed. Everyone goes to the cemetery to visit and clean the graves. Flower and plants decorate the graves. All through the night, they pray and sing by candlelight in celebration of the Days of the Dead.
In homes, altars are built for the offerings. Photos of the dead are carefully placed; surrounded by marigolds and cockscombs as well as their "favorites", water, bread, fruit, salt, tobacco, and alcohol along with candles and copal. An old tradition of Folk Art is present in these altars. Sugar skulls, wooden skeletons, Calacas scenes depicting a very active after-life, papals paper cut outs, straw skeletons, all manner of colorful ceramic skeletal figures and often times, the Catrina wearing her grandiose hat and fancy dress with skeleton band in tow.
There will be work from local artists, as well as the Folk Arts of Mexico.
Pacific Western Traders is located at 305 Wool Street in the Historic District of Folsom, California. The Gallery is open 10:00 to 5:00 Wednesday to Sunday.
Days of the Dead is on display from October 6 to November 7, 2007
For further information contact Courtney Puffer on 916.985.3851 or PWTFolsom@aol.com. Our web address is: www.pacwesttraders.com
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