Artists and dancers celebrate culture, community, and the dead on Día de los Muertos
on November 30, 2018
Thousands gathered to celebrate Día de los Muertos at the Unity Council’s 23rd annual festival in Oakland’s Fruitvale district on November 4.
The Mexican holiday, which was originated by the Aztecs in Central America about 3,000 years ago, is a two-day celebration in which individuals honor and remember the lives of their ancestors and relatives in a few ways, including through creating altars with items liked by deceased loved ones as a way to entice them to visit or help guide them in the afterlife. This year the holiday fell on October 31 and November 1. At the Unity Council celebration, the theme was “A Dream For All.”
The festival’s theme wove through the 26 altars assembled by local artists as well as artwork created by this year’s poster contest winner Eduardo Chaidez. The poster features an illustrated image of a little girl—modeled after Chaidez’s niece Reminie—with Día de los Muertos-inspired face paint and an Oakland T-Shirt, holding a sign that reads “DREAM FOR ALL.”
“A Dream for All signifies a sense of selflessness and connection, this is exactly what Día de Los Muertos is about to me—connection,” said Chaidez in his artist statement, which is featured in part on the council’s site. “This is a connection not only to the dearly departed and our ancestors but also to the connection to each other and our shared mortality.”
Raised by a single Mexican mother, along with four other siblings, Chaidez stated, “The feeling of being an outsider in my own country is what fuels my frustration, curiosity and drive for making art.”
Artwork from Chaidez and other local artists was funded in part through the city’s Cultural Funding Program.
The festival extended along International Boulevard from Fruitvale Avenue to 40th Avenue, and featured Ballet Folklorico, traditional Aztec dancing, live music from DJ Chuy Gomez, food vendors and tables where staff of local nonprofits spoke to passersby.
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- A child sits on an adult’s shoulders to see above the dense crowd during one of the traditional performances by Aztec dancers at the Unity Council’s Día de los Muertos festival on November 4. Just ahead, a sign hangs from a neighborhood arch, with artwork by local artist Eduardo Chaidez.
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- Gonzalo Hidalgo says these yellow and orange marigolds symbolize the monarch butterfly. “Monarch butterflies take four generations to return to where they are from,” he says. “They carry it in their DNA.”
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- Just inside the outlines of Hidalgo’s altar, or ofrenda, lie black and red beans in the shape of butterflies. He says a few children helped him arrange the seeds, which symbolize a cycle, including death. He says things left on the altar are meant to entice ancestors to visit on the Day of the Dead.
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- “Human dignity is being able to hope,” says Hidalgo. To him, dreaming means being human, because it means you are able to have hope. “To Dream is a Right” or “Soñar es un Derecho” is the title of his altar at the festival.
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- A table nearby features screen prints by Gonzalo Hidalgo. One poster reads, “Educacion es poder,” or “Education is power.” Another reads, “Soñar es un Derecho,” or “To Dream is a Right,” the title of his installation.
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- Artist Sean Levon Nash sits inside his stand as customers peruse nearby. Nash, who was a regular at the festival 15 years ago, started going back more regularly the last few years. He sells Día de Los Muertos-themed paintings and jewelry, like a poster that combines skeleton motifs with Rosie the Riveter.
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- Artwork by Nash hangs inside his stand at the Unity Council’s festival. His work is concerned with memory, narrative, and color—exploring both traditional images and satire.
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- Teacher Sonia Ramirez-Garcia stands by her daughter-in-law Aurea Altamirano’s altar pointing out items she and her students added to the altar, like photos of family members who are recently deceased.
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- Altamirano’s altar, titled “Mother Earth Loves Us All,” features art provided by Ramirez-Garcia’s students. The dresses are Ramirez-Garcia’s, who added them to symbolize the drowning of children—angelitos—during the Syrian refugee crisis. Garlic was meant to ward off bad spirits, and beans to provide guidance.
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- Photos on Altamirano’s altar include Anthony Ramos, a 27-year-old muralist who was shot and killed as he worked on a West Oakland mural in 2015 and Nia Wilson, an 18-year-old Dewey Academy student who was stabbed and killed in what’s believed to be racially-motivated violence earlier this year at MacArthur BART station.
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- Altamirano says that the title of her altar, “Mother Earth Loves Us All,” is meant to encourage people to protect the Earth and its diversity. She worked with students from preschool to college age to add images highlighting Mexican-American issues and artists, victims of gun violence, and famous activists who tried to cultivate hope.
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- Altamirano’s altar featured some of her own work on the oppression of women. One piece depicted a crowd protesting for reproductive rights in Peru, where many women were sterilized without their consent during Alberto Fujimori’s presidency in the 90’s.
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- Miriam Mariana Zamora came with her daughter Ihaly, who comes to participate in Aztec dancing. Through the ritual, Ihaly thanks her ancestors, and pays tribute to indigenous people killed during the colonization of North America. Ihaly says her mother was raised in Mexico with more Aztec ritual; this is one way they share that culture.
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- A child watches as traditional Aztec dancing is performed by groups from all over the Bay Area.
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- A participant dances along the periphery of the performance area, at the intersection of East 12th Street and Avenida de la Fuente at the Unity Council’s festival.
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- Two traditional Aztec dancers add percussion to the group dance through ayoyotes worn on their ankles.
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- Gustavo Reynoso’s stand on International Boulevard and 35th Avenue showcases art on the themes of childhood and lessons learned from his mother. Reynoso, who is based in Sacramento, creates art related to his Chicano/Mexican American upbringing.
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- Families make their way past Tony Star Gasoline on 36th Avenue and International Boulevard, perusing classic cars with altars assembled on their hoods and in open trunks, as the festival nears its final hours.
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