#DIADEMUERTOS El Museo is delighted to present this year's on-site altar “Tree of eternal life; Tlalocan – Death is the starting point of the eternal beginning” by artist @erikaharrsch On View at El Museo from Friday to Sundays 11am-5pm until November 20th, visitors are encouraged to write the names of their loved ones who have passed on the hanging pictographs on the altar. Artist Statement The installation for the day of the death is in the shape of a tree, closely related to my mixed media tree sculptures and inspired by the Tlalocan mural painting in the Tepantitla compound of Teotihuacan, México. I have created this altar to honor the Cycles of Death and Rebirth of Mesoamerican Ancient Civilizations and their spiritual beliefs that ancestors are reborn in the form of trees. Sacred trees represented the ancient world’s mythology and cosmology. The cacao tree itself was held to be sacred because of its associations with the God of Maize and his rebirth in the Underworld. I want to bring back the origins of what honoring the Death meant for Mexican original civilizations. The installation fuses parts of codex pictograms, murals paintings and sculptures by the Mayan, Toltec, Olmec, Zapotec and Aztec cultures, in which symbolic representations of space, time, and the realms of heaven and earth, were integrated into one whole universe. For the Mexicas-Nahuas there were four realms where people would go after death. The place where people went was determined by the way they died. I became fascinated by these after life realms and their connections with the elements, the sun, nature and particularly trees; sacred trees assured the continuity of life. Animals were crucial in the passage from death to the eternal life. Hummingbirds and butterflies carried the spirit of warriors. Dogs facilitated and accompany the passage. For full statement visit elmuseo.org INFO: On View at El Museo from Friday to Sundays 11am-5pm until November 20th. . . Photos by @palmamir