The Day of the Dead is a Mexican and Mexican American holiday whose intricate history is intertwined with the history of Mexico and Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is practiced on November 1st and 2nd, during which the graves of loved ones are decorated, special foods like mole and pan de muerto are made, ofrendas are built to honor the dead, and special festivals and processions are held.
The Day of the Dead has its origins in ancient Mesoamerican cultures that blended with those of the Spanish, who arrived in Mexico in the early 1500s. During the early twentieth century, Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada popularized the skeleton images associated with the holiday by his humorous drawings of calaveras, and thereby established a uniquely Mexican style of art.
Cyclists - Jose Guadalupe Posada
Later, the Chicano Movement embraced the Day of the Dead as a way to recover pre-Hispanic and Mexican identities. Today, the Day of the Dead continues to be celebrated by Mexicans and Mexican Americans across Mexico and the United States every November. - Dead of the Dead Educational Activity Guide Humanities Texas
Calaveras
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A calavera [plural:calaveras] (Spanish -pronounced: [kalaˈβeɾa] for "skull") is a representation of a human skull. The term is most often applied to decorative or edible skulls made (usually by hand) from either sugar or clay which are used in the Mexican celebration of theDay of the Dead (El Dia de Los Muertos) and the Roman Catholic holiday All Souls' Day. Calavera can also refer to any artistic representations of skulls, such as the lithographs of José Guadalupe Posada. The most widely known calaveras are created with cane sugar and are decorated with items such as colored foil, icing, beads, and feathers.
