EXHIBITION 2024: Dia de los Muertos celebration

22 to 28 October 2024

The Embassy of Mexico wishes to share one of the most distinctive festivals of Mexico. The Embassy will create an ofrenda for the Day of the Dead in the Academy Galleries. Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) is a two day holiday that reunites the living and dead. Families create ofrendas (Offerings) to honour their departed family members. These altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favourite foods and drinks of the honoured.

While the most recognisable aspects of Day of the Dead celebrations are the representations of skulls and skeletons, the tradition that holds the most meaning is the Ofrenda (Spanish for offering). The ofrenda is what the whole celebration is about; it’s a collection of offerings dedicated to the person being honoured. The offerings are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods and join in the celebrations!

Day of the Dead is unlike any other holiday, celebrating death and life and exchanging mourning for celebration. The holiday is derived from the religious rituals of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Mexico. Led by the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as “Lady of the Dead,” the celebration lasted a month. After the Spanish arrived in Mexico and began converting the Mexican peoples to Roman Catholicism, the holiday was moved to coincide with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (November 1 and 2, respectively).

The Dia de los Muertos holiday is filled with symbols, traditions, and imagery. Every detail represents something significant and special in the remembrance of loved ones. Some traditions are rooted in ancient Meso-American traditions, some came from Spanish or European cultural traditions, and some have evolved over the years of celebrations. From Monarch Butterflies to native Copalli incense to Cempasúchitl.

Every ofrenda includes the four elements: water, wind, earth and fire. Water is left in a pitcher so the spirits can quench their thirst. Papel picado, or raditional paper banners, represent the wind. Earth is represented by food, especially bread. Candles are often left in the form of a cross to represent the cardinal directions, so the spirits can find their way. Every state in Mexico has its own particular way of setting up their ofrendas. In some regions, you can find a flat surface with all the elements on it, while in others you can find several levels. The most common ones have three levels, which represent heaven, earth, and the underworld. With more elaborate ofrendas, you can find up to seven levels.