It’s enjoyed a resurgence in Southern California since the 1970s, when the artist group Self Help Graphics & Art organized a public celebration in Los Angeles. In 2017, “Coco” helped introduce a new generation to its tenets and symbolism. The holiday comes from a cultural point of view that sees death not as a finality but as moving on to the next stage. Death doesn’t have to necessarily be sad or scary. Our lives have seasons and cycles, like everything else. On Día de Muertos, souls that have moved on to their next season have a chance to cross back and be with the people who loved them. You don’t get to share the same realm as them year-round, but you get to share dinner and drinks for a night. Celebrating Día de los Muertos “is a healthy way of connecting with your ancestors, honoring them and placing yourself in the lineage.” People “always say, ‘What’s with Mexicans and death?’ Mexicans confront death,” Alcaraz said. You can build an altar in your home to a relative, a friend, a person who was meaningful to you - even if you didn’t know them personally, such as an author or celebrity - or build ones that are remembrances to groups of people. Last year, altars were built for victims of COVID-19. Alcaraz said he expects to see more of those this year. The altar is the portal from which the person crosses back into the world of the living, said Aldo Cruz, an altarista (altar designer and teacher) who’s worked with the Hollywood Forever event since 2006 and first learned about altar-building watching his mother in his childhood home in Oaxaca. This is something you are doing in your own space and your own home, so there really isn’t a “wrong” way to build your altar, but there are elements you should keep in mind and try to incorporate.Ĭalifornia Our digital Día de Muertos altar celebrates your loved ones (The interview with Cruz was conducted in Spanish and translated to English by Karen Garcia.) Different regions and families may decorate them in different ways. Inspired by those found at Grand Park and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery around this time of the year, we’ve created our own communal digital altar. Building the altar should be a festive family occasion, Cruz said: “When we make the altars, we often do it together, so it’s a happy time when we design the altar together and remember our loved ones - it brings us together.” It doesn’t have to be in a specific spot in your house, and your ofrenda doesn’t need its own dedicated table. You want to represent what Cruz called “life’s elements: water, wind, fire and earth.” For water, that can be a cup of water to quench the spirits’ thirst after their journey, or sometimes the deceased’s favorite drink. Wind can be represented by papel picado, a colorful cutout paper banner that moves in the breeze.
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