Day of the Dead Family Fiesta at the Figge Art Museum -- October 15.
Sunday, October 15, noon – 5 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
With the event held in partnership with Ascentra Credit Union, Hola America, and LULAC, Davenport's Figge Art Museum will house a delightful Día de Los Muertos celebration in the October 15 Day of the Dead Family Fiesta, an afternoon-long tribute honoring the memories of passed loved ones through music, dance, food, and community.
The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico – particularly in the central and southern regions – and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere in the world. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and helping support their spiritual journeys. In Mexican culture, death is viewed as a natural part of the human cycle, and Mexicans view the day of one's passing not as a day of sadness, but as a day of celebration. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the holiday is sometimes called Día de los Muertos in English-speaking countries – a back-translation of its original name Día de Muertos. Day of the Dead is primarily celebrated in Mexico where the day is a public holiday, and prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th Century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually, it was associated with October 31, November 1, and November 2 to coincide with the traditions of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas; honoring the deceased using calaveras, Aztec marigolds, and favorite foods and beverages of the departed; and visiting graves with these and other possessions as gifts.
Scholars have traced the origins of the modern Day of the Dead holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, which has become a national symbol whose meaning is frequently taught in Mexico's schools. Originally, however, Day of the Dead as such was not celebrated in northern Mexico, where it was unknown until the 20th Century because its indigenous people had different traditions. The people and the church rejected it as a day related to syncretizing pagan elements with Catholic Christianity. Yet as of the early 21st Century, Día de Muertos is observed in northern Mexico because the Mexican government made it a national holiday based on educational policies from the 1960s, and Day of the Dead is now collectively viewed as a unifying national tradition based on indigenous traditions.
During the Figge's Day of the Dead Family Fiesta, patrons are welcome to step inside the museum to visit the venue's current exhibition Day of the Dead: Remember, Honor, Celebrate and learn some beautiful traditions of this holiday. Guests are invited to share a picture of memory of a loved one who has passed, and also to stop into the venue's studios to create a take-home craft. There will be free admission to the museum and its exhibitions and films from noon to 5 p.m. on October 15, while traditional Mexican food will be served in the lobby until 3 p.m. The Figge's outdoor plaza, meanwhile, will host performances by the gifted dancers of Danza Azteca Asuncion at 1:30 p.m. and Quad City Ballet Folklorico at 2 p.m., with the performances held in the lobby should inclement weather arise.
The Day of the Dead Family Fiesta on October 15 is free, and more information on the day's events is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
