Dia de Muertos
Oct 24, 2017 – Nov 2, 2017
Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), in collaboration with Latino Art Now and Don’t Shoot PDX, is honored to host a series of events, October 24-November 2, 2017 surrounding the traditional celebration of Dia de Muertos. PNCA’s MFA in Print Media and Students of Color Coalition have worked with Maria Garcia, President of Don’t Shoot PDX and owner of Revolución Coffee House and Hector Hernandez, artist and professor at Portland State University to develop a series of programs that delve into the historical origins of this traditional day for the celebration of one’s ancestors. Both Garcia and Hernandez are from Mexico City and wanted to bring a traditional celebration to the Portland community. The Portland Art Museum has provided crucial support for this series. “Maria and Hector have been wanting to make a community celebration for Dia de Muertos in Portland, and they reached out to Meghann Gilligan, Print Media Program Coordinator, and I here at PNCA as we had done another Community Print event with Don’t Shoot PDX, Marylhurst and Portland Art Museum in Spring of this year,” said Matthew Letzelter, Chair of the MFA in Print Media program. “We are happy to throw our doors open for conversation and celebration around this traditional event.” Day of Dead is a traditional Mexican celebration recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For the first time held at PNCA where local artists, students, and community members will celebrate and learn history and meaning of this cultural Mexican celebration that is becoming more popular in the Northwest. “Celebration of life and death is deep in the Mexican hearts, but now it should be a conscious state of mind in every individual due to our current political climate,” Maria Garcia states. “How are we living our life? Are we giving the best of us every day? Are we living the live we are supposed to? Through art, we would like to transmit our respect to cultural traditions and express how this ‘life-death’ topic is interpreted by younger generations in the college of art.”
Events include collaborative printmaking, a wheatpaste workshop, lectures, a demonstration of prehistoric instruments, and a Dia de Muertos celebration on First Thursday, November 2, 2017 with art, food, traditional music, and Aztec dancers.
The full schedule of events follows:
October 24,
12-2pm Collaborative Printmaking Event PNCA Atrium
October 26,
6:30pm Origins of Dia de los Muertos Guest Speaker - Willan Cervantes 2nd Floor, Design Corridor October 27,
12-2pm Workshop on Wheatpaste Techniques Guest Artist & Alumna Kanani Miyamoto 2nd Floor, Watershed Studio
November 1,
6:30pm Conversation with the Past Guest Speaker - Vojislav Radovanovic Watershed Center for Publishing, PNCA Room 212
November 2,
5:30-8:30pm
DIA DES MUERTOS CELEBRATION AND OPENING RECEPTION with Mexican coffee, traditional foods, and music
5:30pm Presentation & Demonstration of Prehispanic instruments Guest Speaker - Eduardo Cruz 2nd Floor, Design Corridor
6pm “Day of the dead, Day of the life” Guest Speaker - Hector H Hernandez MA, MFA 2nd Floor, Design Corridor
6:30pm Aztec Dancers PNCA Historic Corridor