Day of the Dead Ofrendas 2022

The Día de los Muertos ofrendas at the National Museum of Mexican Art focused on victims of COVID as well as gun violence, including the students and teachers killed in Uvalde.

Día de los Inocentes (Holy Innocents Day) by Claudia Álvarez, 2010. The sculpture represents the story in the New Testament where King Herod orders the massacre of all children under the age of 2 in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus.

The Mexican tradition of honoring loved ones with an ofrenda is something every family should adopt. These homemade altars are typically adorned with marigolds, photos, and items the deceased person would appreciate, including their favorite foods and beverages (empanadas and a margarita on mine, por favor). But even if you don’t create one at home, you can see artistic interpretations if you’re in Chicago.

Sometime around mid-October, Duke and I head to the Pilsen neighborhood to see the Day of the Dead ofrendas at the National Museum of Mexican Art. 

The original concept of the exhibit was to honor people in the USA who had been murdered. 

“In the last decade, we have been overwhelmed with the amount of mass shootings on an annual basis that there have been far too many for this exhibition,” reads the sign at the start of the exhibit, proclaiming, “Enough is enough!”

This year, the 36th Day of the Dead installation, covers not only senseless gun violence — including a moving memorial to the victims of the Uvalde school massacre — but Mexican actors who passed away and those lost to COVID and suicide.

Ofrenda to artisans who died of COVID

A photo of one of the artists memorialized in the ofrenda, Tiburcio Soteno Fernandez, with the tools of his trade and his iconic mermaid alebrije.

An ofrenda to Mexican cinema by the Puerto Rican Antonio Martorell

La muerte allá donde la vida no vale nada (Death, Where Life Has No Worth) by Alejandro Cortés, Dolores Gómez Navarro and Jorje Negrete. Note the upside-down ofrenda, pointing to Mictlan, the underworld of the ancient Mesoamerican peoples.

An ofrenda to the Latinx victims of the Uvalde, Texas shooting at Robb Elementary School. It was created by students at Bernard Moos Elementary School in Chicago.

Ofrenda a los Arrancados (Ofrenda to the Uprooted) by Carlos Flores. He used “bandit signs” to pay tribute to the working-class people of color who disproportionally lost their lives to COVID.

This ofrenda, created by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, pays homage to weavers of the war-torn country.

Ofrenda to Nieves Orozco Field, an indigenous dancer who modeled for Diego Rivera

Molds used to make sugar skulls for Day of the Dead

Skeletons go hand in hand with Day of the Dead, as do sugar skulls.

Año de los Muertos (Year of the Dead) by Eric Romero, 2020

A Tree of Life with Mexican rites and rituals by Israel Soteno, 2007

If you’re in Chicago in the fall, you should definitely stop into the National Museum of Mexican Art (it’s free!) to see their ofrendas. ¡Feliz Día de los Muertos! –Wally

Haunting the Panteón 5 de Diciembre

This Puerto Vallarta cemetery is home to a heartbroken ghost. 

The Panteón 5 de Diciembre: Puerto Vallarta’s main cemetery

Official records for the cemetery date back to 1916, when some bodies discovered in Hidalgo Park were interred in the Pantheon 5th of December — named for the PV neighborhood it’s located in. 

What’s so special about that date? Locals honor December 5, as it was on that day in 1929 that the Puerto Vallarta Ejido was formed. This collective offered land for local farmers to lease — the government appropriated 2,808 hectares from the Union en Cuale silver mining company in a show of egalitarianism after the Mexican Revolution.

“On dark nights, the ghost of a woman can be seen making the trek from Hidalgo Park to the Panteón 5 de Diciembre. ”

Look homeward, angel: A woman’s ghost visits her husband’s grave after their remains were separated.

The Ghost of Hidalgo Park

As you can imagine, the transfer of the remains wasn’t foolproof. Some of the bones are said to remain at the old site. 

On dark nights, Vallartenses (as locals are called) say that a woman can be seen making the trek from the old burial site to the Panteón 5 de Diciembre. She must get tired, for cab drivers have reported her requesting a ride — with the dead giveaway that she’s actually levitating above the ground! 

One taxi driver, during a storm in the early 1960s, picked up the woman, noting that she smelled of roses. She wore a black dress with white circles that made him think of eyes watching him. 

The cabbie kept asking if the young woman was married, and she eventually acknowledged that she was. What the driver didn’t know at the time was that the couple were dead and had once been buried together. But while the husband’s remains had been relocated to Panteón 5 de Diciembre, the wife’s were left behind at Hidalgo Park. 

“I’ve come to comfort him,” the passenger said. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky — and when the taxi driver looked into his rearview mirror, the backseat was empty. 

But then the woman spoke again, talking of the painful separation from her husband. The cabbie saw her floating over the sidewalk and through the closed gate to the cemetery. 

Inside the taxi, the smell of roses turned to the stench of decay. 

Dried marigold petals on a tombstone

A Visit for Día de los Muertos 

Duke and I visited on November 1. We hoped to see families placing bright orange marigolds, candles, photos, food items and cigarettes on the graves to lead their loved ones back from the afterlife. Instead, we only saw a couple of cans of beer left out, and a few families cleaning some of the gravesites. 

Perhaps the lack of activity was due to the fact that Day of the Dead really kicks into gear the next day. Plus, even though it was fall, the midday sun blazed down upon us scorchingly, and we tried to keep to the shade as much as possible. 

A vendor sells marigolds outside the cemetery — the flower is especially popular around the Day of the Dead.

La Muerte Está Viva Parade

I was bummed to discover that we were one stinking day early on our visit. On November 2, a parade called La Muerte Está Viva (Death Is Alive) progresses from the cemetery to the Plaza Lázaro Cárdena, where a folk art festival is held. 

The Pantheon 5th of December has everything from gorgeous gravesites like this one to simple crosses with hand-painted Jesus heads.

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If you find cemeteries as intriguing as Duke and I do, the Pantheon 5th of December is worth a visit. Just keep an eye out for a woman in a black dress whose feet don’t quite touch the ground. –Wally

Panteón 5 de Diciembre
Brasilia 715
5 de Diciembre
48350 Puerto Vallarta
Jalisco
Mexico

 

What is the Day of the Dead?

Don’t be scared of Día de los Muertos! With sugar skulls and homemade altars, it’s an exuberant celebration to honor those who have died.

Every year Duke and Wally head to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago to see its Day of the Dead exhibit

To an outsider, it can seem a bit odd. I remember the first time I saw the representations of skeletons dressed up in outlandish clothes as part of the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. It seemed as if people were mocking death — and, in a way, that’s exactly what they’re doing. By laughing at death, it takes away some of its power; death becomes something you fear a little bit less.

“You might leave out toys for little ones who have died — or booze and cigarettes for adults who indulged during their lives.”

What are the origins of the Day of the Dead?

The Aztecs honored their ancestors, particularly at the monthlong festival for Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead, So there’s part of that tradition kept alive by the Aztecs’ descendants. But the holiday is also affiliated with the Catholic holy days, All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2, first brought over by the Spanish conquistadors. (Halloween’s name derives from All Hallow’s Eve, meaning it’s the night before All Hallows’, or All Saints’ Day.)

Día de los Muertos became a way to celebrate with your loved ones — even those who have passed on.

Surprise! Fall is the time of the year when the dead are said to come back to visit this world

Is the Day of the Dead a scary time?

Don’t let its potentially frightening name fool you. Unlike Halloween, when people love to play up the spooky (hands reaching out from graves, evil clowns, fake blood, giant spiders, ghosts), the Day of the Dead is actually a joyful holiday.

In many parts of the world, this is the time of year when people honor those who have died, and the veil between the world of the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest.

What about all those skulls and skeletons?

Skulls and skeletons are everywhere during the Day of the Dead. Artwork and food depict them, including skull-shaped bread (pan de muerto) and sugar skulls that you inscribe with the name of someone who has died. People will do elaborate Day of the Dead makeup to give the illusion that they’re skeletons.

Duke went as a Day of the Dead skeleton recently for Halloween

Why did these icons become so prolific? It traces back to the pre-Hispanic era, when skulls were kept as trophies and used during rituals, according to HuffPost.

Families make altars for their loved ones who have died, decorating them with photos and offering treats

The fun bright orange marigolds are common decorations during el Día de los Muertos

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated?

Families will set up altars, or ofrendas, in their homes to honor those who have died. A photo of the dead person, candles, bright orange marigolds and colorful paper banners are popular. Family members put out the favorite food and drinks of the deceased, along with various items that they loved in life (a musical instrument or book, for instance). You might leave out toys for little ones who have died (angelitos) — or booze and cigarettes for adults who indulged during their lives.

This ofrenda at the National Museum of Mexican Art was created by a graphic novelist, Raúl the Third

Another stylized altar for the Day of the Dead exhibit in Chicago

What’s this about a party in the graveyard?!

That’s right. Mexican families will camp out at their loved ones’ graves and have a huge feast. That probably sounds creepy to a lot of you — but they’re just including those who have passed away to join the party. They’ll sing songs, talk to the dead and introduce them to new family members. It’s also a good time to clean their loved ones’ tombstones.

In some villages, people will leave a trail of marigolds from the deceased’s grave back to their home, so the dead can join them there.

These sugar skulls were crafted by the Mondragón family in Mexico, a specialty they’ve worked on for generations. The name of the deceased is written on the forehead of the skull

There are some lovely Day of the Dead practices that could become a part of your family’s Halloween traditions. Duke and I have started collecting sugar skulls, and we’ve always loved the skeleton artwork.

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos! –Wally

“Mexican families camp out at their loved ones’ graves and have a huge feast. That probably sounds creepy to a lot of you — but they’re just including those who have passed away to join the party. ”