Noticias
Under the Dual Year Mexico-UK
The British Museum will celebrate the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead
October 18, 2015With a festival in which four days of visual arts, acting, storytelling, music, food, seminars and talks will meet, the British Museum will celebrate the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead under the Dual Year Mexico-UK.
From October 30 to November 2 the area, located in London, will have a great gastronomic and cultural exhibition, said Ambassador of Mexico in UK, Diego Gómez Pickering, in an interview with the National Council for Culture and Arts (Conaculta).
He said that the British Museum will open wide its doors to Mexico with this ceremony, which is one of the most important events in the calendar of the Dual Year.
"We are delighted to partner with the British Museum, the memory of the dead is an important part of every culture and Mexico has a special way to commemorate their dead. The annual celebrations of the Day of the Dead is a significant moment for the living, as they gather in their communities to celebrate their loved ones who have departed. It is wonderful to be able to give to the visitors a display of this unique tradition, through the activities planned for a weekend that will be very special", he mentioned.
Gómez Pickering stressed that the Mexican artist, Betsabeé Romero will participate in the festival with the installation of an altar entitled Unknown Immigrant in the Great Court.
The diplomat said that during the four days of the festival, the visit of thousands of people is expected. "The British Museum is one of the most visited places in London. We hope there will be a great attendance and through this ancient tradition see the pre-Hispanic heritage of Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec, and Toltec cultures that occur in both houses of rural communities and the city", he pointed out.
Unknown Inmigrant.
In an interview with Conaculta, the creative of contemporary art, Betsabeé Romero, explained the elements that form part of her installation titled Unknown Immigrant, in which you can appreciate a series of paper skulls, Cantolla balloons and tires.
To Mexican artist is recurrent to make altars of the dead. This year she decided to deal with the immigration situation in the world, so her piece is dedicated to the dead migrants worldwide.
"Migration is a phenomenon that has left many deaths and is hurting everybody, the migrant population is going through a bad time, not only on the Mexican border, but in Europe. It's something everybody is concerned", she said.
She mentioned that the British Museum with its collections honors world history and cultures of the great civilizations, among which the pre-Hispanic art is. "Speaking of all cultures it should be noted that there was an historical pilgrimage and migrate in the past century and XXI century is not only important, it is one of the fundamental phenomena to explain the current human being," said the artist based in Mexico City for 10 years.
She commented that for the Unknown Immigrant installation, she has used Mexican folk traditions of different styles and indicated that the Central Court of the British Museum is a large space, where hanging elements: Cantolla balloons and tin calacas (skeletons) will be seen. She explained that each balloon is made up of 32 sheets of tissue paper in which skulls iconography was placed with silkscreen and codices and pre-Hispanic sites can be seen.
While on the floor there will be a tunnel of tires that to Romero is a fundamental icon of mobility and recycling. "The tire is a symbolic link, such as the use of oilcloth, rubber was a material used in prehispanic ceremonies as in the ball game."
She explained that each tire will be engraved with migrant iconography: prehispanic pilgrimages and contemporary migrants. "Migrants will be printed on papel picado to be hang on the side walls and the walls of the library, which is the circular central building in the courtyard”.
She deepened that there also will be a tzompantli (altar built by some pre-Columbian cultures of ancient Mexico, with the base decorated with skulls carved in stone and stakes in the upper area to thread the head of slaughtered) made of sugar skulls. "The skulls will be crossed by tubes in a piece of furniture, where there will be 36 draws with barbed wires hanging," Betsabeé Romero explained.
According to the recognized artist, with the celebration of Day of the Dead, thousands of people remember their family history. "It is a collective tradition that also has its peculiarities by region, it is such richness that people from other countries are amazed."
Betsabeé Romero shared that her installations are made on purpose. "My proposals try to be specific to each place where I put them. In this case it was important to see the dimensions of the Central Court of the British Museum, which are enormous. It is a challenge and an honor to participate in this architecture which is also of a great contemporary architect, besides to "dialogue" with a traditional building" she said.
The British Museum hosted the celebration of Day of the Dead in 2009, does it again in 2015 with a festival that will include a Friday night event, a weekend of family activities and a study day.
The meeting, free of charge, will begin on October 30 with a special event of music, performances, exhibitions, film screenings and workshops, where there will be Mexican food and drink.
On October 31 and November 1 an event for all ages will take place that has been called family event. There will be art exhibitions, stories, films, music and dance. Families will have the opportunity to create digital collage using ornament from the altar.
The commemoration of All Souls Day in London will conclude with an academic day on November 2, which will include: lectures, gallery talks and activities that explain the rich cultural meaning of the Day of the Dead, where the artist Demian Flores will participate and who will be in conversation with the curators of the British Museum, Jago Cooper and Laura Osorio Sunnucks, about his series De / construcción de una nación (2012)
Mexico,Distrito Federal
