The Celebration of Mexican Days of The Dead at Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace
Halloween is widely celebrated all over the world and it falls at the end of October or early November each year. Not many people know that simultaneously, there is also another celebration happening in Mexico which is known as Mexican Days of The Dead or Día De (Los) Muertos. The Embassy of Mexico in Indonesia organizes a series of cultural events annually, to deepen cultural exchanges and to foster a better understanding between Mexico and Indonesia. This year one of the agenda from The Embassy of Mexico is an exhibition by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada with his artworks called “La Muerte Tiene Permiso”. The exhibition took place at Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace at Jl. Kemang Selatan No. 99A, Jakarta and was held from November 1st to 5th, 2016.
The celebration exhibited many festive ornaments that are usually found on its homeland. There was an altar called ofrenda which is the main piece of the celebration, it is usually set on private home of cemetery. There were many things nicely placed on the table which turned out to be offerings to the dead. There was water to quench thirst after the long journey, food, family photos, candles, salt, and many more. There was also dried chilies that was shaped like a cross. During The Day of The Dead, it is believed that the spirit of those who have left us come back to earth for a short period of time. Those offerings and celebration are meant to welcome them home. The decoration that mostly use Marigold flowers that is placed in the altar as well as scattered to the gravesite, means to guide the souls back to their resting places.
The celebration has its origins several hundred years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people, who considered mourning the dead disrespectful. For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death was a natural phase in life’s long continuum. In 2008, UNESCO recognized the importance of Día de Muertos by adding the holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. No matter what religious background Mexico people have, they still celebrate it until now. This culture from Mexico is something we could relate to, because it is almost like Indonesia’s people belief to spirit and ancestors.
On the other hand, there is also several artworks from José Guadalupe Posada that displayed stories of silence, marginality, tragedy, pain, laughter, sarcasm, misery, crying, pleasure, life, death, white, black, love, the Mexican. The artworks were tiny and framed, they were then arranged to a particular order, so the visitors were like reading stories through them. We were handed a magnifying glass so we could see and observe the artworks better. Overall the exhibition has reached its goal to better introduce, deepen, and strengthen the cultural understanding between two countries, Mexico and Indonesia. We’d like to see more of these events held on a larger scale.
