‘DAY OF THE DEAD’: MEXICO HEADS TO LONDON

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Earlier this year, Esther (one of Jasper’s studio design team) headed to Mexico and brought back some fantastic insights, stories and a raft of inspirational photographs to share with us all.

She visited the former home of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which featured some amazing brightly coloured skeleton puppets hanging on the walls (pictured on the blue background). These puppet figures are seen all over Mexico and are characters which feature heavily in the tradition of the Day of the Dead festival.

Day of the Dead (or ‘Dia de los Muertos’ in Spanish) is a national holiday in Mexico which takes place on the first two days of November and celebrates the lives of family and friend’s who have passed away. People take to the streets dancing and visit the graveyards of loved ones with flowers, food and drinks as gifts. Unlike Halloween, it is a joyful and colourful celebration of the lives of the deceased. Part of the tradition of the Day of the Dead holiday is a male and female skeleton character, which many people in Mexico dress up as. The skeletons are portrayed in a fun and humourous light.

Highlights From Mexico
Highlights from Esther’s trip to Mexico included Oaxaca, which is a strikingly colourful city and the best place to visit for the Day of the Dead holiday, as streets are lined with parties and celebrations spill over into every corner of the city. San Christobel de las Casas is another city located in the South of Mexico, which is utterly inspiring. Drenched in colour, it is incredibly creative, visually captivating and a very liberal place – it prides itself on being so open.

Mexico City is a definite must-see, steeped in tradition and culture it contains outstanding Aztec ruins in the centre of the city and huge pyramids just on the outskirts. In addition, Merida, the second largest historic centre outside of Mexico City, is a fusion of Catholic tradition and indigenous culture. It is a beautiful place, where the Spanish influence is clearly visible but does not compromise native traditions.

Mexico Comes To London
This Saturday (November 5th) Mexico comes to London with its very own Day of the Dead celebration at the Wellcome Collection venue. It is set to include ancient storytelling, decorative sugar skulls, skeleton dancers, face painting and a grand procession with a finale dance of the dead. So why not pop down to experience some of this rich, Mexican culture for yourself?

Click here for more details.