2008 Woodie Awards
Dia de los Muertos exhibit leads up to Nov. 2
Wake Forest University's Day of the Dead show runs Oct. 3-Nov. 4
Sue Edelberg
Issue date: 10/17/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The Museum of Anthropology of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem is currently displaying an exhibit on the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, running from Oct. 3 until Nov. 4.
Many of the items in the exhibit have plaques mounted on the wall next to them, explaining the item's significance to Day of the Dead and/or Mexican culture as a whole. All of the explanations have a Spanish translation next to them.
Though the exhibit is small in square feet, there is a lot to look at in the tiny space.
The main attraction of the exhibit is their own version of the classic three-tiered altar that is the center piece of Day of the Dead. Photos of actual deceased friends and family that Wake Forest students and staff brought in for the exhibit were placed among other items of offering for the dead. Food ranging from fake pastries to Jarritos fruity sodas to Cheetos were out for the dead to consume, as well as toiletries, candles, flowers, a guitar, and a few party items such as cigars and a six pack of beer. This is a visual representation of Mexico's view of death as a time of celebration.
Next to the altar are a few skeleton-based toys, designed to give the children who play with them a positive first impression of death. There are skeleton dolls, figurines, toys with skeletons painted on them, and a ferris wheel in which all the riders are tiny skeletons in each dangling basket.
Everything being unique and hand-made, the exhibit features some very interesting and artistically creative craftwork. There are masks and other three-dimensional pieces hung up on the walls, such as a little box with skeleton men in sombreros and canes framed by bottle caps with religious figures and scenes glued inside.
A hanging half-box entitled "La Historia de un Amor" or "The History of a Love" contains four scenes of skeletal figures going through the stages of first romance, marriage, having a baby, and the final scene of the husband praying at his wife's grave.
Many of the items in the exhibit have plaques mounted on the wall next to them, explaining the item's significance to Day of the Dead and/or Mexican culture as a whole. All of the explanations have a Spanish translation next to them.
Though the exhibit is small in square feet, there is a lot to look at in the tiny space.
The main attraction of the exhibit is their own version of the classic three-tiered altar that is the center piece of Day of the Dead. Photos of actual deceased friends and family that Wake Forest students and staff brought in for the exhibit were placed among other items of offering for the dead. Food ranging from fake pastries to Jarritos fruity sodas to Cheetos were out for the dead to consume, as well as toiletries, candles, flowers, a guitar, and a few party items such as cigars and a six pack of beer. This is a visual representation of Mexico's view of death as a time of celebration.
Next to the altar are a few skeleton-based toys, designed to give the children who play with them a positive first impression of death. There are skeleton dolls, figurines, toys with skeletons painted on them, and a ferris wheel in which all the riders are tiny skeletons in each dangling basket.
Everything being unique and hand-made, the exhibit features some very interesting and artistically creative craftwork. There are masks and other three-dimensional pieces hung up on the walls, such as a little box with skeleton men in sombreros and canes framed by bottle caps with religious figures and scenes glued inside.
A hanging half-box entitled "La Historia de un Amor" or "The History of a Love" contains four scenes of skeletal figures going through the stages of first romance, marriage, having a baby, and the final scene of the husband praying at his wife's grave.
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