For over 20 years the Arts Council of Princeton has celebrated El Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that recognizes the passing of loved ones and honors them with dance, music, art, and other traditions. This year’s event took place on November 6.
This year the events were led by Artistic Director Maria Evans, Program Manager Melissa Kuscin from the Arts Council of Princeton, and the Torres-Olivares family.
Valeria Torres-Olivares, who is a senior at Princeton says, “My mom worked on all the events with the Arts Council for El Día de los Muertos this month and we’ve been working on it for I think ten years now.”
On November 2, the Arts Council hosted a lecture by Dr. Trenton Barnes on the Indigenous Influences on Día de los Muertos in Mexico. Throughout this lecture Barnes talks about the art and architecture of Teotihuacan, one of the largest cities in the Mesoamerican period and its influences on many modern practices.
Left: Participants in Princeton’s Dia De Los Muertos celebration attended in traditional Mexican costumes. Right:
An altar inside the Princeton Arts Council building provided a place for people to honor the dead with gifts of all kinds. PHOTOS | ELIJAH PARKMAN-WILLIAMS
Torres-Olivares says, “The professor is actually my professor right now, I’m taking his class. It’s been really a privilege to be learning then and here about the Indigenous ancestry, as well as El Día de los Muertos, as well as how it’s combined with and evolved through the ages due to colonization and interjections of religion.”
During the pandemic year The Arts Council was not able to hold the annual Día de los Muertos celebration, but this year the parking lot where it was held was filled with people from all over the Princeton area, visitors and students alike.
“I think we had an extra great time this year because we hadn’t been able to have a big party during the pandemic,” Torres-Olivares said.
There was a mariachi band that drew bystanders in with the strumming of string instruments, loud trumpets, and mesmerising voices.
The event also included traditional Mexican foods: crispy flauta, topped with lettuce, tomato, and chile sauce, tamales, and sweet churros.
Abelardo Montaño, a Princeton resident, says “I see it as a celebration of the living when we remember the people that have died.”
Inside the Arts Council building there was a community altar where people placed sweet breads, candy, crafts, memorabilia, and pictures of loved ones who have died, remembering them through what they loved most.
“You go to the cemetery and you bring ofrendas, food, and music and flowers,” says Abelardo Montaño.
Torres-Olivares added, “El Día de los Muertos definitely holds a very, very special place in our hearts because it’s a time for us to remember our family members who have passed away, friends who have passed away, ancestors.”
