Day of the Dead Altar Exhibit

From Oct. 26 through Nov. 14, 2010, Miracle Theatre Group is pleased to display an exhibit of ofrendas (altars) created by local Latino artists in celebration of Día de los muertos (Day of the Dead). The exhibit, curated by Pepe Moscoso of FusionArte and sponsored by the Consulate of Mexico in Portland, is free and open to the public; see below for specific dates and times.

“Day of the Dead reaches into the ancient history of Mexico, when the spirits of dead relatives are allowed to return to the mortal world to visit loved ones,” says Moscoso, who is the host of a Spanish-language radio program on KBOO and a visual artist himself. “The spirits are greeted with offerings of food and things that the person enjoyed in life. These are laid out on a Day of the Dead altar, and it is believed that the spirits consume the essence and the aroma of the foods that are offered.”

In addition to the altar traditionally created by Miracle Theatre Group’s staff in the theatre lobby, this new exhibit will feature four themed altars:

• Las mujeres luchadores – (Susana Espino, Alejandra Schimpfoessl, Yessica Melissa Goff) This altar commemorates the women who have given their lives for their families and for the recognition of their rights. The artists have used basic elements of the woman who lives and works in the fields: tools, the fields planted for corn, grains, fruits, and food to feed the people, as their beliefs that guide their path. This altar is made up of four levels to connote the four elements of which everything is made.

• El bicentenario (Bicentennial) – (El Consulado de México, Jesús Kobe, Pablo Gonzalez) This altar is dedicated to the festivities celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. This altar contains traditional Day of the Dead elements, sugar skulls, pan de muerto (a bread made for Day of the Dead), traditional foods, tequila and paper mache figures honoring death. This type of altar helps to promote the people’s traditions and identity.

• El arte (Art) – (Armando Olveda, William Hernández) This altar breaks traditional rules and if not art, what else would? The altar is dedicated to painter Salvador Dalí, a Spanish artist who transcended surrealistic art, leaving behind a new perspective of understanding and producing art. The altar displays many of Dalí’s icons and images, from the melting watch in the painting persistence (persistence) and the elephant with mosquito feet in the painting tentación de San Antonio (temptation of St. Anthony), to geometric figures and an illuminated eye that represents the eye of a teacher who watches us as an accomplice, with magic, playfully inviting us to the unconscious dream.

• Los niños/Los angelitos (The little ones /The little angels) – (Máximo Salcido, Jessica Lagunas, Rodólfo Valentín) This altar is dedicated to all those little boys and girls that left us as little angels or who sadly died as casualties of war. The theme of this altar deals with purity represented by the aura of innocence, the colors, toys and sweets that remind us of childhood—a special time in which dreams and fantasies were possible.

Also on display will be Day of the Dead-themed paintings created by Jaime Sanchez Nava and photography by Benjamin Ortega.

Open to the public:
The exhibit is free and open to the public one hour prior to each performance of ¡Viva Don Juan! as well as between 12 noon and 2pm Oct. 26, 27, 28, Nov. 4, 9, 10 and 11.

Open to school groups:
The exhibit is free and open for visits by school groups Oct. 26-Nov. 11, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, by appointment. For more information or to schedule your class visit, contact Outreach Coordinator Gabriela Portuguez at Gabriela@milagro.org or 503-236-7253 ext. 111.

Pepe Moscoso, the curator of the exhibit, comments on the Day of the Dead tradition:
 
“Day of the Dead reaches into the ancient history of Mexico, when the spirits of dead relatives are allowed to return to the mortal world to visit loved ones,” says Moscoso, who is the host of a Spanish-language radio program on KBOO and a visual artist himself. “The spirits are greeted with offerings of food and things that the person enjoyed in life. These are laid out on a Day of the Dead altar, and it is believed that the spirits consume the essence and the aroma of the foods that are offered.”