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Home  ACE Stories ACE Features Table Dia de los Muertos: Closing the Distance Between Life and Death
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Dia de los Muertos: Closing the Distance Between Life and Death |
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ACE Features -
ACE Stories
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Written by Terelle Jerricks
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Thursday, 16 October 2008 |
Ever since man developed the ability to cultivate land to produce food, he marked the various seasons of life, from the planting time to harvest. Early man watching the birth and rebirth of crops from year to year couldn’t help but make the connection between life and death and remember loved ones that had come and gone around harvest time. With the onset of Christianity many of these older traditions were subsumed, incorporating many of their elements. The days November 1- 2, marks All Saints Day and All Souls Day are celebratory days that recognizes martyrs in early Christendom. In Mexico, those days also are collectively known as Dia de los Muertos––The Day of the Dead. Traditionally, private altars are built honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of those that have passed on, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Interestingly enough, similar traditions exist throughout the world, from the Caribbean, to Africa, to the Philippines.
This year, San Pedro will be celebrating its second annual Day of the Dead festival on November 1.
Last year, galleries hosted altars made by students and professional
artists alike, and Aztec dancers performed in Jurassic Park, the lot
between the Brown Brothers Building and the arcade across from the
Warner Grand. Nancy Escott and Carla Ortega aim to get a film student
to document the event. The difference between this year and last year
is that this will be the first year that the Day of the Dead falls on a
weekend, raising the likelihood of a higher turnout this year.
“Last year, we had them [art galleries featuring Day of the Dead
altars] open at about 5:30pm and on and it ended up staying open for a
few days. Students got really excited about it. We had students from as
far away as Burbank put in art. We had pre-schools got involved
coloring in little sugar skulls.”
This year, there will be a fire of remembrance, people will write a
note to those that have passed on. Afterwards, the notes will be
gathered and put into the fire.
“We thought it was a neat idea to get people to think about those that have passed on,” Nancy explained.
A traveling belly dancer will arrive at 7:30 pm and perform at various
locations around the arts district throughout the evening, and at 8pm
the Aztec dancers will start. Then, the procession will occur at 9pm.
Afterward, there will be a raffle.
Nancy opened up Z’Fabriq, a costume and mask shop in San Pedro about
three years ago and thought 6th Street would be great place to hold
such an event. So Nancy started talking to Carla at Art Creations
across the street about it and asked if she would be interested in
putting an event together because it fell on First Thursday. Little did
Nancy know that Carla had the same idea, but only several years earlier
just before the tragedy of 9/11. She thought 6th street would be a
great place for a Day of the Dead event at the time but struggled
explaining what the event was while emphasizing that it wasn’t
Halloween. When the terrorist attacks happen, locals were
understandably not in a festive mood. Carla shelved the idea until
Nancy came along.
“I think we really need to celebrate our lives and be thankful for what
we have, Nancy explained. Somewhere we have gotten away from that. It’s
almost like we look at what the Jones’ have across the street and you
want to attain it but we forget about family and friends. You’re not
even enjoying your walk through life. You’re just trying to attain a
goal. That’s not it. It’s not about whether you win or lose, but how
you play that what really counts.”
Nancy enjoys the fact that the San Pedro event has such a homespun
community feel to it, explaining, “It’s not like Hollywood. It’s a
little more intimate. We even have people who met last year and are
still together from last year. I thought that was real cute.”
Nancy, who recalls the organizational support she received from her
Merchant Association in Belmont Shore bemoans what she sense as the
“every man for himself” attitude that seem to pervade San Pedro’s
community. It seems the artists do what they do and businesses do what
they do.
The pair singled out administration staff and teachers at Harbor Adult
School for particular praise for providing help in making altars and
bringing in materials. PBID paid for the two banners and flyers for the
event. Nancy reports that she has been getting calls from people
asking what they can do to help.
“People in the community have been willing to put in time from their
busy schedules. We all have busy schedules, but people have come
through for this event,” Nancy said.
With only 16 days remaining and despite all the help they’ve received
so far, Nancy notes that they still need all the time she can get to
make this year’s Day of the Dead a success. It’s not easy bringing the
departed together .
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