“Beautifully complicated” is how Indra Arriaga describes Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. A traditional Mexican holiday that celebrates and honors deceased loved ones, Día de Muertos is observed Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 and is one of Mexico’s most important celebrations.
Sugar skulls, marigold flowers, colorful altars, traditional art and foods, and the gathering of friends and family mark the observance and provide the opportunity to grieve, remember, and joyfully celebrate the lives of those who have passed.
“Día de Muertos gives me a way to think about my own impermanence,” says Arriaga, who has organized an annual celebration of the holiday in Anchorage for the past 19 years. “It’s not that I’m not afraid of dying, I think everyone is; but it gives comfort that it is a natural process and gives my life value. I have lost many people I have loved deeply — my grandmother, my father, other family, friends, and a lover — and I can accept their deaths because Día de Muertos gives me a way to continue to live with them and provides a time and a space to feel their presence in my life.”
Growing up in a rural town in Veracruz, Mexico, Arriaga’s fond memories of celebrating as a child include a nine-story altar that took up most of the living room and infused her home with fragrant smells and the warm glow of candlelight. Upon moving to Anchorage in 2003, she was discouraged to find no public Día de Muertos celebrations in the community.
“Not finding a celebration deepened a sense of isolation that is shared by people in diaspora, who are far from home and disconnected from their culture,” she said. “This results in a heaviness of heart and contributes to our invisibility as immigrants and people of color.”
During the holiday the following year, she rented a 130-square-foot space in the mall at 4th Avenue and D Street (now the Sunshine Plaza), and “opened the door to what is now almost 20 years of visibility for my community.”
This year’s celebration will take place at Out North and includes an entire week of free workshops, providing an opportunity for the public to learn about Día de Muertos while making art, including traditional paper flowers, papel picado (traditional cut paper), and rubber block prints. Arriaga, an artist, writer, and researcher, will lead the workshops.
The main event on Nov. 2. will feature more than 12 Día de Muertos altars built by community members and organizations. Altars can take many forms, shaped by what feels most healing and resonant for the individual. This year, Arriaga’s altar includes her painting “Ocelotl de Dos Mundos” (“Jaguar of Two Worlds”). Inspired by a recent loss, the painting depicts a state between life and death through the sacred transformation of a Nahual (a shapeshifter) representing the person she lost.
“In Olmec culture, and in the cultures that came later like the Aztec and Mayan, the jaguar has a place of prominence and of religious importance. It is also one of the entities that, like the Xoloitzcuintle [Aztec Dog], can straddle the world of the living and the world of the Dead,” Arriaga said. “By creating my Ocelotl Nahual, I merged two concepts that are powerful and perhaps eternal.”
The Nov. 2 event will also include The Celebration to Welcome the Souls, an Indigenous ritual offered by Poet and Writer, Itzel Zagal, live music by Denali Romero during the Seranata Para Altares (Serenade for the Altars), and free hot chocolate and Pan de Muerto (Day of the Dead Bread).
Arriaga encourages people who are new to Día de Muertos to learn more about it at this year’s celebration.
“You don’t have to be Mexican or Latinx to celebrate it or to make an altar, because at the end of the day, death is a human experience and we all need to find a way to confront it and find comfort,” she said. “[Día de Muertos] transcends cultural boundaries because it is a sublime expression of the love felt for all those we have lost to a number of reasons, from death at the border, to failing healthcare policies, homelessness, war, domestic violence, and any number of tragedies.”
Arriaga adds, “Día de Muertos has many layers: it’s personal and communal; it’s cultural and political; it’s past and future; it’s a reminder of the delicate balance between indigenous Mexico and contemporary Mexico, of life and death.”
This year’s Día de Muertos celebration and free art workshops will take place at Out North, 411 D Street, in Anchorage. Altars will be viewable Nov. 2 and 3. A viewing on Nov. 1 will be open to vulnerable individuals. To learn more about Arriaga’s work and art, visit www.indraarriaga.com.
This article was published in partnership with Arts Anchorage.
Emily is an Anchorage-based graphic designer, writer and musician. She is the founder of Arts Anchorage.