'Day of the Dead Festival', Old Vic Tunnels, London - 2012

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Title: Wahaca presents - 'Day of the Dead Festival' 2012 Artists: Graciela Iturbide, Hew Locke, Le Gun, Dr Lakra, Nancy Fouts, The Cabinet of Living Cinema, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Vivienne Griffin, Harry de Quetteville, Tupac Martir Format: Visual Art, Film & Music Festival Exhibition dates: October 31st -- November 3rd 2012 Location: The Old Vic Tunnels, Station Approach Road , London Co Production: NOMAD, the Embassy of Mexico in the UK Film: Crane TV Mexico's notorious Day of the Dead celebrations will be brought to London for a four-day festival of art, film and music hosted at The Old Vic Tunnels from the 31st October to 3rd November. The festival will feature the photography of the acclaimed Mexican artist Graciela Iturbide, alongside newly commissioned installations from visual artists Hew Locke, Le Gun, Dr Lakra and Nancy Fouts. The Cabinet of Living Cinema will be performing a newly commissioned live score to accompany the screenings of the Alejandro Jodorowsky classic film 'Santa Sangre' and Rodrigo y Gabriela will be featured each night, performing the first leg of their 2012 world tour. The Day of the Dead is an annual holiday celebrated throughout Mexico to honour and remember loved ones who have died, and send prayers to those who are recently departed. The festival is usually celebrated for two days beginning November 1: Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents), specifically for remembering children, and the day and night of November 2: Dia de los Muertos -- the Day of the Dead. It is believed at this time the gates to the afterworld are open and prayers of the living can freely travel to the realm of the deceased. Likewise the deceased can make a journey to accept offerings from their relatives and friends. These offerings take the form of favourite foods and drink or earthly delights such as mole and tequila. Sometimes these are placed at the graveside but it is common for brightly coloured altars to be built decorated with candles and festooned with marigolds (cempasuchitl -- meaning flower of the dead: their scent and colour act as a guide). Earth and seeds are also placed as reminders to the living that 'from dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Skulls have always been part of the festivities. In pre-Hispanic Mexico they were kept as trophies and used in ancestor rituals to symbolise death and rebirth. In the modern Day of the Dead skulls made of sugar and inscribed with the dead person's name act as playful reminders to spirits who might have strayed form their path to the afterworld. As with all food and drink offered, it is consumed by the spirits as sustenance for their journey, and the living may also partake although the nutritional essence is believed gone. Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead) is also traditionally baked for the altarpieces; inscribed with a name and shaped to evoke bones. Although originating in Mexico as a hybrid tradition influenced by Spanish and the Pre-Hispanic civilizations, the Day of the Dead has parallel celebrations in Brazil and Spain, and similar observances occur in European, African and Asian culture. Text by Bronwyn Carter Links: Rodrigo y Gabriela http://www.rodgab.com/ http://rodrigoygabriela.bandcamp.com/album/11-11 Crane TV http://www.crane.tv/