Bolivia: Art also celebrates the dead

Murals evoking Bolivian death are part of the celebrations that are taking place in La Paz

The General Cemetery of La Paz has become an art gallery that exhibits works related to the cult of death. Thanks to the intervention of a group of foreign artists, including Colombians, Chileans, Argentines, Spaniards, Uruguayans and Bolivian artists, they decided to leave their mark on the walls of the cemetery of this city.

The Day of the Dead is celebrated in some Latin American countries on November 1 and 2. In La Paz, the Ñatitas take place, a celebration during six days after the feast of the Dead.

This celebration is deeply rooted in cities such as La Paz and is mainly oriented to the veneration of human skulls, attributing to these favors, miracles, and the gift of protection.

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There are more than thirty artists with a quite complex challenge for the theme and the objective of interpreting what the Andean cult to death is. The purpose is the recovery of iconography and the imaginary linked to two very important celebrations in Latin American cultures.

The activity is developed since 2016 and, at first, the designs of some murals were developed. With the passage of time the dynamic gained acceptance by the population and the authorities of the municipality, this year is its third version.

Artists can take about four days to complete a mural, it all depends on how complex the image is, the materials, and the technique they use to create the shapes.

Another of the artists' intentions is to be able to achieve a more pleasant atmosphere for those who visit this cemetery every day. According to Magda Rossi member of the collective "Perro Suelto", they began to carry out the intervention without knowing exactly if people would like it, but they believed it could be successful. The celebration takes place in an area with a very colorful aesthetic.

Latin America in general is known for the different cultures that inhabit it, for this reason it is a region with a great cultural richness that makes it unique in the world. Traditions and different cults are part of this diversity, which is why art again manages to combine tradition and culture in the best way.

LatinAmerican Post | Ana María Aray Mariño
Translated from “Bolivia: El arte también celebra a los muertos”

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