Dressed in a Mexican huipil (customary garment) with her face painted in a traditional calavera (skull), Elena Díaz Bjorkquist will join the Phippen Museum on Saturday, November at 1PM to define what Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is, where it came from, its roots, and how it’s celebrated.
Día los Muertos is a significant and highly celebrated holiday in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Many Mexicans and Mexican Americans believe death isn’t a subject to be feared or ignored by the living and that life cannot be celebrated without also celebrating death. And in this special plática, or talk, Elena traces the origins of this popular Mexican festival and describes the traditional elements associated with the holiday, including food, folk crafts and altars.
Elena Díaz Björkquist is an author, historian and artist from Tucson. She writes about Morenci (where she was born), is the author of 2 books, Suffer Smoke and Water from the Moon and co-editor of two anthologies: Sowing the Seeds, Una Cosecha de Recuerdos and Our Spirit, Our Reality: Celebrating our Stories.
This entertaining presentation is offered in cooperation with Arizona Humanities’ speaker’s bureau, AZSpeaks, and accompanies the museum’s current exhibits, Western Treasures of the Phoenix Art Museum (running through February 18th, 2018) and Kids, Colts & Calves (on display through January 21st, 2018).
The Phippen Museum is located only a few minutes north of downtown Prescott, Arizona, at 4701 Highway 89 North. For additional information on this or any other event at the museum, please call (928)778-1385, or visit their website at www.phippenartmuseum.org.
