Day of the Dead

Day/Night of the Dead

The Day of the Dead, El Dia de los Muertos, is a holiday celebrated in Mexico. Ancient rituals from central and southern Mexico, going back more than 2,500 years, are merged with Catholic beliefs brought by the Spanish in the 1500s. The holiday is about honoring the ancestors with food, drink, parties and other activities designed to include the ancestors' spirits in today's daily life. Families also set up ofrendas (private altars) to honor their ancestors.

Death is considered an integral part of the continuum of life and is not to be feared. Celebrations occur November 1 (All Saints Day) when adult spirits come to visit. On November 2 (All Souls Day), families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves of their loved ones. This is a very colorful holiday with marigolds, cardboard skeletons, sugar skulls, incense and tissue paper decorations in riotous colors everywhere.

Depictions of Day of the Dead (and Night of the Dead) activities is a motif explored by several renowned potters from the village of Mata Ortiz in the State of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. Premier among them is Hector Javier Martinez who originated the style in 2008 after searching for "something different" to help him support his family simply through making and selling his own pottery. Hector has since earned several major awards for his Day of the Dead (and Night of the Dead) pottery. The very prestigious Presidencial Award from the Mexican Concurso Ceramica Nacional in Tlaquepaque is one of them.

Alfredo Rodriguez, Diana Loya, Martin Corona, Adrian Corona and Emiliano Rodriguez are some of the other Mata Ortiz artists using Day of the Dead and Night of the Dead motifs as inspiration for their own creations.

---