“I didn’t see any skeletons or skulls or anything like that at the cemetery,” Lomas remembered.
In the book Day of the Dead in the USA: The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon, she discusses her family’s annual tradition of picnicking at the gravesite, a common practice in both Mexico and Mexican American communities. She frequently depicts her family traditions in her work. Artist Carmen Lomas Garza grew up in south Texas in the late 1950s and early 1960s and celebrated Day of the Dead in small family gatherings. Families participated in somber and religious ceremonies such as taking mass, visiting family grave sites, and decorating with flowers, without many of the indigenous elements we see associated with the holiday today. González, Tenth Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration, 1980, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, 1995.50.52Īs Posada was making his images in Mexico in the mid-late 1800s, we can trace the custom of Mexican immigrants bringing their Day of the Dead rituals with them to the U.S. A Religious Tradition in the United States Aimed at poking fun at rich Mexican women who were eager to adopt European dress and customs before the Mexican Revolution, catrina figures are clothed in opulent dresses and large hats adorned by feathers and lace, a superior and self-aggrandizing fashion that stood in sharp contrast to the average Mexican worker. La Catrina is perhaps Posada’s most enduring calavera image.
Initially created for broadside newspapers as illustrations accompanied by poems and jokes, Posada's calaveras slid into satire, depicting political figures and elites of Mexico as skeletons-a somber reminder we are all the same inside and meet the same end-as mere bones. He was inspired by skeleton imagery he observed in celebrations on the holiday, a remnant from the indigenous traditions. When the Spaniards arrived in Latin America, they appropriated the summer holiday and moved it to coincide with Catholic All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day’ at the beginning of November, thus assimilating the Day of the Dead into a new Mexican culture blended from indigenous and European traditions.Ĭalavera imagery, or the skeleton figures most closely associated with of Day of the Dead today, was the creation of Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. The Aztecs gave offerings to their deceased ancestors, made altars, and burned incense in a month-long celebration. Cortéz, José Guadalupe Posada, 1981, signed 1983, linocut on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, 1995.50.9, © 2020, Dora KatsikakisĮstimated to be 3000 years old and deeply rooted in Aztec and other Mesoamerican traditions in Mexico, Day of the Dead rituals were meant to honor death as a natural part of the cycle of life. A Brief History of the Day of the Dead in MexicoĬarlos A. This change, in addition to a steady rise in awareness of the of the Day of the Dead in the United States, can be traced back to Chicano artists and activists who launched large scale, public events during the holiday seeking to create a new political and cultural consciousness among people of Mexican descent in the United States. While Mexican American communities have celebrated the Day of the Dead for hundreds of years in the United States with personal, often religious, ceremonies, there has been an evolution in how the holiday is celebrated today. Filled with food, music, and dancing, Day of the Dead is a rich celebration of the lives of those who have passed before us. Families visit gravesites and create ofrendas, or altars, covered with pictures of their departed family members, candles, sweets, decorations, and personal offerings like favorite foods and drinks to nourish the spirits in their journey. Celebrated on November 1 and 2 throughout Mexico and much of Latin America, it is said that on the holiday, the spirits of the dead return home for the night to visit their loved ones. Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a time to remember and honor those who have departed.
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