Here comes colonization ... and with it, more elements.
Catrinas and calaveras were a satiric critique of social class in Mexico grown during Porfiriato
Its creator, José Guadalupe Posada, published this iconic depiction of catrina that has now been globalized and used for more than political purposes.
The "Garbancera" is a reminder that no matter who we are, how we dress, what we have, we will all end in the same way... as a calavera.
Satire of society continues even if it is not with Catrinas
Fiestas de Xantolo, an example...
What's up with Halloween? Is it really taking over?
Repurposing?
Face painting and enacting catrinas is a recent practice.
However, unlike the scary, spooky feel, people have added colors, indigenous art/traits, and cultural aspects.
Even for Halloween parties, people either dress up as catrinas or non-scary skeletons.
What other aspects do you see that Halloween has adopted from this celebration or that Day of Dead has adopted?
Syncretism in the US
Syncretism in Mexico
Trivia:
When is Day of the Dead celebrated?
When do the dead arrive?
When did Day of the Dead parade started in Mexico City and in cities around the country?
What was its origin?
- It has always been there!
- The invention of the Catrina, of course!
- It was originated for marketing purposes in the 80s.
- I have no idea, but it must be the Mexican people.
Now that we have seen that syncretism is both way, symbolism gets repurposed, and current celebrations are a mixture of different cultures, let's move to...
What about portraits and food in altares?
What does Coco say happens if you don't put the picture of a loved one in the altar?
Where is this idea from? What happened before photography was invented?
Do they really disappear? What about the other 5 days when people also visit? (egocentric vs. community oriented)
What about the food?
Tradiciones: Historia, antes, y después
One representation
Good?
Bad?
How about different?
It's not about endorsing, being against, or defaming,
It's always good to keep a critical eye when watching these type of movies, which, while they are definitely good educational cinematography, are still comercial, told with a very particular lens, and fictional.
So how do I celebrate... I'm a product (kind of) of my generation and my context (hehe)
Credits:
Created with images by alfredo914 - "Tzintzuntzan" • alfredo914 - "Tzintzuntzan" • Xhico - "Pan de Muerto with Skull Decorations and Marigold Petals for Day of the Dead in Mexico" • Hugo Alejandri - "Ofrenda de día de muertos. Con calavera de azúcar, pan de muerto y platillo tradicional mexicano 3" • Alejandro - "day of the dead mexican catrina skeleton dancing with dress isolated looking away" • Amelia - "catrinas calaveras dia de muertos halloween mexico tradiciones" • Nicole Edelbrock - "Happy Jack" • Colton Kresser - "I have a really good friend who does VFX make-up and she painted my face for comic con down here in Las Vegas, NV. You can find her on instagram @skkullqueen_makeup!!" • Tom Roberts - "Masked Horror" • David Menidrey - "Pumpkin Twins" • Nicolas Picard - "A frozen morning can reveal amazing little things. Before going to work, I took a few minutes to shoot this iced spider web, an abandoned kingdom in the middle of winter. I really love the power of macro photography to throw you in miniature and parallel worlds, so a garden becomes a universe to explore for hours…" • Conner Baker - "Squad" • Edgar Perez - "Since Halloween is coming up soon" • Haley Phelps - "untitled image" • Bee Felten-Leidel - "witchy Halloween scene" • Kayla Maurais - "untitled image" • Luísa Schetinger - "Halloween shovel" • fer gomez - "Se hizo en 2016 foto conceptual, llevo desde el 2014 creando catrinas, ya sea por encargo, personal y en colaboración, amo todo lo que tenga que ver con catrinas. Amo las trdiciones de México multicolor muerte y vida." • Sergio Alonso - "untitled image" • fer gomez - "La catrina es la muerte, es la que nos enseña a vivir, nos vamos a morir si, como fotografiar a la muerte en vida, como transmitir vida, como vemos la muerte los mexicanos, no nos mofamos de la muerte, sabemos que nos vamos a morir, y el día de muertos nos recuerda que estamos de paso, la muerte nos recuerda que es mejor disfrutar la vida, vivirla. Felices fotos=)" • tony hernandez - "This was a great experience I had a lot of fun. Catrina face painted is a traditional art from Mexico “Dia de los Muertos”. I wanted to show the value and how rich is the Mexican-American culture in the United States." • Michelle - "Pan de Muerto traditional recipe from Mexico, adorned with candles and cempasuchil flower petals, in the diffuse background, commemorating the Day of the Dead."