NEWS
RELEASE
Oakland Museum of California
www.museumca.org
10TH & OAK STREETS
OAKLAND, CA 94607
For additional information:
Elizabeth Whipple
510/238-4740 MEDIA ONLY
Public Calls 510/238-2200
ewhipple@museumca.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2007
Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys: Expressions for
Días de los Muertos
Museum Celebrates Days of the Dead Old & New Oct. 10–Dec.
2, 2007
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| Inner Sanctum, Lissa Jones and Curtis Fukuda. 1996. Painted photograph. |
The Oakland Museum of California’s 14th annual Days of the Dead festivities begin Wednesday, October 10, with the opening of Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys: Expressions for Días de los Muertos. This year the skulls, skeletons, marigolds, and candles mix it up with low-rider and hip-hop culture.
Guest curator Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez, associate director/curator of San Jose’s Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), encouraged artists to reinterpret the spiritual holiday. Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys includes Days of the Dead imagery and expressions from pre-colonial Mesoamerica (Oaxacan-style altars) to its contemporary Californian configurations (mixed media and graffiti art).
The exhibition depicts the holiday’s evolution with themes as diverse as Aztec and Mayan mythology to low-rider bicycle culture and the perils of illegal immigration. Several ofrendas (altars) will be created by local artists, schools, and community groups.
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| Oakland Museum of California. |
“Chicano culture and contemporary Chicano folk art are woven throughout Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys,” says curator Helstrup-Alvarez. “Both have street credibility, and offer a new take on the concept of the ofrenda.
“Violent death is a reality for many urban youth. The R.I.P. T-shirts in the exhibition were produced by kids from Oakland as a way of paying respect to their peers.”
The museum is creating special ofrendas for
two longtime museum colleagues, community leader Chiori
Santiago and Chicano activist Antonio R. (Tony)
Salazar, and a recreation of the spontaneous street altars
for slain journalist Chauncey Bailey.
The museum’s lively annual Days of the Dead Community Celebration,
Sunday, October 21, 12–5 p.m., offers a colorful mix
of music, a mercado (market), food, performances, a procession, public ofrendas,
and costumed revelers, in the courtyard and gardens. The celebration is free;
museum admission is half-price all day. For a printable
schedule of events. (Requires Acrobat)
The 2007 Days of the Dead events include gallery talks with the artists, the curator, and museum staff, on October 27, November 2, November 11, and November 18. For details on the Community Celebration or Días de los Muertos programs, visit www.museumca.org.
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The Oakland Museum of California is located at Oak and 10th Streets in Oakland, one block from the Lake Merritt BART. Museum hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month open until 9. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 seniors and students with ID, free for kids five and under, City of Oakland employees and members. General admission is free the second Sunday of the month.
For information, call 510/238-2200 or visit www.museumca.org.
Contact Elizabeth Whipple (510/238-4740 or ewhipple@museumca.org) for high-resolution images or an interview with Evelyn Orantes, Days of the Dead project director.
