Day of the Dead Altar Exhibit Honors Las Adelitas, Zapata, Rivera and Los Niños

There is a flurry of movement in our Zócalo space recently. Bodies moving in and out, boxes, tables, and stacks of hay, scaffolding, lights, and the sweet smell of mums fill the space. The monarch butterflies in artist Brenda Valentín’s vibrant paintings seem to flutter their wings right off the canvas as the artists William Hernández and Pepe Moscoso, who is also the exhibit curator and the host of KBOOs FusiónArte, put the finishing touches on the altar they have set up in honor of the Mexican muralist painter Diego Rivera. The background mural that William has prepared for this altar, done in the same style as Rivera’s large-scale murals, is breathless. One can almost hear the cacophony of traffic and merchants echoing through the buildings of the Alameda in Mexico City while looking at the figures on the wall.

Our Day of the Dead celebration ¡Viva la Revolución! is just around the corner and this year’s altar exhibit celebrates the already mentioned Mexican muralist artist Diego Rivera, Las Adelitas, Emiliano Zapata, and the Children of the World. While many might be familiar with Diego Rivera, Las Adelitas might not be as familiar. Las Adelitas was the name given to those women who at the turn of the century left their home life behind to join the revolutionary effort. Although little written and first hand documentation exists, they can be found throughout the large photographic archive left behind by the Casasola studio. Carrying weapons and baskets of food, dispatching railways, delivering mail, serving as spies, leading men into battle, these were some of the roles of the Adelita.

In the Revolutionary south, it was Emiliano Zapata’s call for the structural transformation of society that garnered supporters. Born in Anenecuilco, Morelos, the son of a humble peasant family, he took up arms in defense of communal lands. Zapata formed and commanded the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution becoming one of the most important figures in Mexican history. The men who followed him into battle were hence forth called “Zapatistas.” In 1919 Zapata was called to a meeting with General Pablo Gonzalez by Colonel Jesús Guajardo who hinted at switching sides. Zapata was betrayed and killed upon arrival at the meeting place in the hacienda Chinameca in Morelos. 100 years later, the enigma of Zapata and his call for tierra y libertad (land and freedom) continues to reverberate.

The work of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was largely influenced by the Mexican Revolution and the altar set up in our Zócalo space in his honor reflects Rivera’s close identification with revolutionary ideals. While Rivera spent the first years of his career studying abroad, he returned to Mexico where he was commissioned to work on a number of murals. While back in Mexico, Rivera left behind artistic trends of the time creating a more nationalistic style in an effort to reflect the history of the Mexican people from pre-Columbian times on. In the 1930s he traveled to the U.S. where he completed a number of murals including a famously controversial mural at the Rockefeller Center in 1933, which was ultimately destroyed. At times a polemic figure, it is his work that captured the experience and history of a nation that continues to speak to us today.

Finally the altar dedicated to the Children of the World brings attention to the plight of those caught between economic and political interests. Today, over 70% of the victims of ongoing wars are civilians, most prominently children. Although the principles of the Rights of Children in wartime have been clearly defined by international law, these standards are consistently violated by governments and military leaders who often turn a blind eye. One of the traditions of Day of the Dead includes the visiting spirits of children on the night of November 1. It is in this tradition that we honor and celebrate the lives and spirits of children whose lives have been prematurely cut short.

We hope you can join us in the commemoration of the longest running Day of the Dead celebration in Portland. The altar exhibit is free and open to the public one hour before each show and for school groups via appointment. The grey drizzling skies of Portland’s fall season may persist, yet inside the Miracle’s Zócalo, glowing rays of color seem to spill out in all directions.