Fonda Portales, director of university art and an art historian of pre-contact Mesoamerica, was invited by the Sun Valley Museum of Art and the Hunger Coalition in Bellevue to present an interactive workshop on building the聽ofrenda, the altar of聽D铆a聽de los Muertos聽(Day of the Dead).聽
For many in Latin American cultures,聽D铆a聽de los Muertos聽is a time to celebrate ancestors and is enveloped in rich, present-day religious and indigenous, pre-columbian imagery. The聽ofrenda聽is the center of that celebration and is made vibrant with the visual symbolism of聽cempas煤chil聽(marigold) flowers,聽calaveras聽(skulls),聽foods, photographs and more. Building the聽ofrenda聽is a communal and familial practice that allows the lives and stories of ancestors to be revived, retold and remembered.聽
Portales will be giving a similar workshop for the Mini-Cassia community on Nov. 1 at the Superior Event Center, 1051 Oakley Avenue in Burley, Idaho.