The valley of the catrinas.
Hello, friends of #weekendexperiences. October is coming to its final stretch and in Mexico that only means one thing, the Day of the Dead is coming soon. This is a holiday that I anticipate a lot and that has become my favorite Mexican celebration (sorry September 15th), not only its theme is amazing, as it is all about honoring the deceased, but there is also a lot of colorful and art expressions related to our Loved ones who are already dead.
Perhaps for many this may sound sad or weird, but these are very special dates where everyone comes together to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, not in a sad way, but by honoring their memory through offerings and celebrations.
In the city of Atlixco, where I live, the city council has organized a special event that has invaded the entire downtown, which they have named "The valley of the catrinas" and consists of the deployment of several giant catrinas and catrines in the streets surrounding the center of the city and when I say giants, I am not exaggerating, all of them were really big.
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For those who don't know, the Catrinas are skulls dressed as women that represent the "boney" (huesuda), or better said, the death, while the catrines are the male version of it. This figure was popularized by Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posadas and at first was used to ridicule the upper and upper-middle classes, but over time it changed until it became the representative of the Day of the Dead and today it is said that they are the representation of Mictecacíhuatl and Mictlantecuhtli who are in charge of governing the underworld or as the Mexicas called it, the Mictlán.
This outdoor exhibition opened last week and as soon as I heard about it I wanted to go see them, but that weekend I was very sick and could not go, so as soon as I felt better I organized an outing to enjoy these sculptures, so yesterday we decided to go out in search of the monumental Catrinas, it was quite a long walk (and my back ended up hurting so much), since three of them were quite far away, but it was worth it, because I found all of them truly impressive.
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In total we saw eight sculptures with different themes but all related to the Day of the Dead festivity. These were made using a technique called cartoneria which they explained to me is a way of creating figures using paper and glue, this is how traditional piñatas and other types of sculptures and Mexican artistic expressions are made. The detail of knowing that they were made using this technique made them even more impressive to me, as I can only imagine the HUGE amount of work it must have taken to make one of these incredible sculptures.
At the end of the tour I was completely happy, since all the catrinas/catrines were fascinating, although there was one that inevitably reminded me of Shingeki no kyojin (hahahahaha), but overall it was an incredible experience, in fact today I will return to downtown to see another exhibition that they have organized within the city hall of Catrinas and Catrines of famous people, I hope I can also share them with you.
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The only bad thing about this experience was that there were too many people and taking pictures was a real challenge, in fact we started the tour at 6:30 pm and finished after 8:30 pm, because walking was quite difficult and slow due to the amount of people who wanted to enjoy these amazing creations, but I still made an effort to take the pictures, I hope you like them.
Thank you very much for reading me, see you in comments.
It's a amazing. I live the vibrant colours. I like how Mexicans do not mourn their dead but celebrate their memory. That's a nice way of looking at things.
All these sculptures reminded me of a French festival where they make sculptures with oranges. I think the Dutch also have one where they make stuff with flowers.
I think the big naked skeleton is by far my favorite. It's in the mood if the month and all. But all of the "boneys" are beautiful in their own accord.
Here they have a very strange relationship with death, They honor it in a very direct way, I think because of the beliefs they have been inheriting from the pre-Hispanic peoples, because those who have moved away from their roots do not take it so much into account, I really find it fascinating.
My favorites were the two I left for last, the Xoloitzcuintle and the Red Devil, They had so many details that I loved them 😁
Thank you for visiting 😘
Well, it's only strange if your background is Christian or something similar. The idea of honoring your dead is beautiful on itself. I have my own thing were I buy some of the things grandpa loved to eat, they say "in your name" and go ahead and have it. It's more or less the same.
Those two are my favorites as well. Really nice photos!
♥️🥰
That's very nice, I think remembering those who are not there should not be sad or gloomy as many think, here is a party because they are supposed to be days when they come to visit, That makes it a beautiful thing. ❤️
Yes, the flowers and the food showing the way back home. A truly beautiful thing. 🥰
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Hello! These sculptures do look incredible, a great tradition for the day of the dead. It is true that from the outside it is a bit strange, but it also seems good to me so as not to forget our loved ones who are no longer here.
Here they make that kind of giant dolls with paper and glue for New Years and then they set them on fire at midnight. It's a great tradition, although I always feel sorry for them to be burned 😜.
I hope you had a great time. Cheers!
Oh, I hadn't heard of that tradition, it sounds great! Although it would make me a little sad to burn such incredible works, but I imagine that it must also have its meaning and importance.
Thanks a lot Thank you very much for reading. ❤️✌️
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STOPThank you very much 😍❤️👏🏼
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Chama what a beauty!!! I love Catrina because it is so colorful, it is very llative, just like everything in the Mexican culture, even in their food.
What you say they are made with is paper mache, what they used in art atack!
I loved this post!
Kisses mana
Yes, it's like that Art attack technique, only in giant size, you can imagine the work that should be to do them 😅
Love you sis ❤️
I think it was worth the effort and time. I loved every single one of the sculptures.
They remind me of the ones they make for the Rio carnivals, which are huge and very detailed.
I loved them, last year I think there were also, but as the pandemic was still going strong here, we didn't go, but this year I didn't want to miss them and I loved them, they were all impressive.