This year, the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas, is presenting an exhibit titled “Love to Death: Day of the Dead Community Altars.”
CREDIT: Image by Araceli Cruz
It features ofrendas (altars) created by members of the Austin community, and also some from its own permanent collection.
The Mexic-Arte Museum has been celebrating Día de los Muertos for the past 34 years.
CREDIT: Image by Araceli Cruz
The show features traditional altars and themed altars.
The museum also has a special exhibit on Frida Kahlo, so naturally, they have an altar just for her.
CREDIT: Image by Araceli Cruz
The Frida Kahlo exhibit (separate from the Day of the Dead exhibit) is called: “Diego & Frida: A Smile in the Middle of the Way.”
This altar celebrates the life of deceased pets.
CREDIT: Image by Araceli Cruz
I couldn’t help but think of the film “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” The uniqueness of this ofrenda is so cute, especially because each pet was constructed out of paper mache.
There’s also an altar paying tribute to street artists.
CREDIT: Image by Araceli Cruz
What’s most amazing about Day of the Dead is that there’s no wrong way to build an altar, and this one shows that. The street art itself is already stunning, so the mixture of tokens (like the ping pong paddles and journals) is what makes it a unique altar.
But there was one amazing altar that left me in tears. It’s called “Selena Forever,” and I almost fainted when I saw it.
Image by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli CruzImage by Araceli Cruz
The altar was created by Stephanie Sandoval, and the details show she is a true fan. She includes everything Selena loved, such as pizza, Coca-Cola, and Doritos. It also features her MAC lipstick, a setlist from her concert, and a sewing machine.
Here’s the altar in all its glory.
The exhibit is on display through November 26, 2017.
The University of Texas San Antonio is bringing the history of Mexico into our kitchens. The university is releasing cookbooks that are collections of historic Mexican recipes. Right now, the desserts book is out and online for free. Main dishes and appetizers/drinks are coming soon.
You can now taste historic Mexico thanks to the University of Texas San Antonio.
UTSA has had an ongoing project of preserving, collecting, and digitizing cookbooks from throughout Mexico’s history. Some books date back to the 1700s and offer a look into Mexico’s culinary arts and its evolution.
UTSA has been digitizing Mexican cookbooks for years and the work is now being collected for people in the time of Covid.
Millions of us are still at home and projects like these can be very exciting and exactly what you need. The recipes are a way to distract yourself from the current reality.
“The e-pubs allow home cooks to use the recipes as inspiration in their own kitchens,” Dean Hendrix, the dean of UTSA Libraries, said in UTSA Today. “Our hope is that many more people will not only have access to these wonderful recipes but also interact with them and experience the rich culture and history contained in the collection.”
The free downloads are a way for people to get a very in-depth look into Mexican food history.
Library Journal shares an article about UTSA Libraries publishing an e-book with recipes from their Mexican Cookbook Collection. A good way to spend time at home learning new recipes.🧑🍳 #lis453su20@mikeleach42https://t.co/ppOqBZur3m
The first of three volumes of the cookbooks focuses on desserts so you can learn how to make churros, chestnut flan, buñelos, and rice pudding. What better way to spend your quarantine than learning how to make some of these yummy desserts. We all love sweets, right?
If you want to get better with making your favorite desserts, check out this cookbook and make it happen.
There is nothing better than diving into your history and using food as your guide. Food is so intrinsically engrained in our DNAs and identities. We love the foods and sweets from our childhood because they hold a clue as to who we are and where we come from. This historical collection of recipes throughout history is the perfect way to make that happen.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera have been known for having one of the art world’s most notoriously turbulent marriages. Both artists were guilty of having multiple affairs and straying away from their marriage, breaking up and getting back together only to become one again. Yet, despite their hard times, the Mexican artists had a bond that transcended the ages and one that has stirred countless discussions about their passion and love.
In a series of love letters from Kahlo to Rivera published in The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait readers are given insight into both the anguish and longing that was woven into their marriage.
One letter, recently shared by the Instagram page @historycoolkids, shows a momentary rift in their marriage when Kahlo was preparing to have her leg amputated.
Written in 1953, the letter for Rivera was written while Kahlo was in the hospital.
It reads:
”I’m writing this letter from a hospital room before I am admitted into the operating theatre. They want me to hurry, but I am determined to finish writing first, as I don’t want to leave anything unfinished. Especially now that I know what they are up to. They want to hurt my pride by cutting a leg off. When they told me it would be necessary to amputate, the news didn’t affect me the way everybody expected. No, I was already a maimed woman when I lost you, again, for the umpteenth time maybe, and still I survived. I am not afraid of pain and you know it. It is almost inherent to my being, although I confess that I suffered, and a great deal, when you cheated on me, every time you did it, not just with my sister but with so many other women. How did they let themselves be fooled by you?
Let’s not fool ourselves, Diego, I gave you everything that is humanly possible to offer and we both know that. But still, how the hell do you manage to seduce so many women when you’re such an ugly son of a bitch? The reason why I’m writing is not to accuse you of anything more than we’ve already accused each other of in this and however many more bloody lives. It’s because I’m having a leg cut off (damned thing, it got what it wanted in the end). I told you I’ve counted myself as incomplete for a long time, but why the fuck does everybody else need to know about it too? Now my fragmentation will be obvious for everyone to see, for you to see… That’s why I’m telling you before you hear it on the grapevine. I’m writing to let you know I’m releasing you, I’m amputating you. Be happy and never seek me again. I don’t want to hear from you, I don’t want you to hear from me. If there is anything I’d enjoy before I die, it’d be not having to see your fucking horrible bastard face wandering around my garden. That is all, I can now go to be chopped up in peace. Good bye from somebody who is crazy and vehemently in love with you, Your Frida”
Despite the letter, Kahlo didn’t “amputate” Rivera out of her life completely.
Fans of Kahlo called her letter “badass” and the greatest they’d ever read. “She was such a talent and such a twisted soul,” one user wrote in the post’s comment sections.
That part where she wonders why Diego was able to be such a womanizer despite being an “ugly son of a bitch” does pretty much make her badass.
