The National Museum of Mexican Art – Chicago is currently hosting the 22nd annual exhibition entitled “La Vida Sin Fin: Day of the Dead 2008.” It began on Sept. 26 and runs through Dec. 14. The exhibit displays a combination of art owned by the museum, and many other works on loan from Mexico, as well as from local Mexican-American artists. It contains a variety of styles ranging from traditional Día de los Muertos shrines, to more modern pieces, as well as a multi-media memorial that honors the victims of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Mexican holiday called La Día de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead, it is a product of what historians call syncretism, or a blending of different religious faiths. In Mexico, this phenomenon is most noticeable with the autumn holiday called La Día de los Muertos. This is the holiday where the souls of the dead are honored, and in many cases it is believed that the living can, in a sense, commune with the dead. Walking through the exhibition’s rooms leaves one with a sense of the religious diversity found in the various Day of the Dead celebrations. This diversity often changes from village to village, so that the practice of this holiday is performed with thousands of variations throughout the country.
One traditional shrine display from a coffee-growing village called Hueytlalpan in Puebla State, for example, spreads their holiday out over a six-day period. On Oct. 28, they memorialize the souls of those killed in accidents. On the 29th, they pray for the souls of those children in limbo, the 30th for lonesome souls with no families and so on. In a town in Michoacan, fire works start their three-day festival. The holiday typically ends on Nov. 2, known throughout the Catholic world as All-Saints Day.
In all the shrines are displayed the things that were beloved in life to those departed, and many items that remind the living of those who have passed on. There is local produce and spices from each region, always images of corn and sometimes even beer or tobacco. Garlands of Mexican flowers are usually found in abundance. Photos of those who have passed on, or jewelry they have worn, are often the centerpieces, along with Catholic images of the Virgin Mary or the Holy Cross.
There are also many El Arbol de la Vida or The Tree of Life sculptures on display. Crafted from polychrome ceramic and usually standing one to two feet high, they are shaped like the Tree of Life diagrams found in Old Testament lore. Small, brightly colored figures of the dead, usually with skeleton faces, festoon the different levels of the sculptures. Angels, devils and the souls of prominent historical figures seem to play and interact with one another, symbolizing the different layers of the afterlife. Another notable feature of the exhibit are the traditional Huichol Indian yarn paintings from the north of Mexico. Constructed of yarn in wax on wood panel, these works are alive with vibrant colors and flowing patterns. Animals and native gods are mixed together with images of more traditional Day of the Dead characters.
The show’s many modern pieces demonstrate that the celebration of La Día de los Muertos is constantly being reinterpreted by Mexican artists and is not just limited to traditional styles. Artist Nicolás de Jesús, for instance, has several remarkable prints in the aguafuerte aquatinte format. Grainy in texture and done mostly in dark grays and browns, his work is surreal and haunting, with skeletons dancing and floating about the darkness, busying themselves with their otherworldly affairs.
There is also a multi-media room primarily dedicated to those massacred in Mexico City on Oct. 2, 1968. Mexican news footage of the Tlatelolco demonstrations and massacre plays on a television screen. There is a shrine dedicated to the victims, and the room’s walls are filled with modern collages, prints and other formats dedicated to all of the victims of Mexican political oppression throughout the 20th century.