MSU Museum honors Day of Dead

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On the ground floor of the MSU Museum, people conjured spirits with offerings of food, drinks and symbols of life to bring the dead back to the realm of reality.

The museum’s Day of the Dead exhibit, which opened Wednesday, wasn’t meant to mourn those lost, it was meant to honor them, said Javier Pescador, the exhibit’s organizer and a professor of Chicano history.

“For people of Mexican descent, Day of the Dead is a very important celebration,” Pescador said. “It brings people together with the purpose of celebrating the life of the departed ones.”

Day of the Dead takes place Nov. 1-2 every year and families gather with mementos of people who have passed away to spiritually connect with them. People commonly bring old photos, food, candles, religious symbols and candy as part of the celebration, Pescador said.

“It’s not a memorial at all — it’s a celebration,” he said.

Although the museum has been doing these exhibits for a decade, this year’s installation has a special message, Pescador said.

“This offering is dedicated to the people who are dying trying to cross into the U.S. looking for a better future,” he said.

Pescador’s installation features plaster skulls sitting on top of a chain link fence, with a Christian cross through the center featuring an Aztec snake. The snake, he said, represents hope and renewal.

Lora Helou, the museum’s communications director, said the museum’s staff wanted to promote another day at a time when most students are celebrating elsewhere.

“Halloween definitely dominates the season,” Helou said. “This is a way for us to fill people in about another culture, another tradition, another cultural experience that has some pretty deep roots and continues today in some pretty creative ways.”

Communicative sciences and disorders sophomore Anna Valdez has taken part in Day of the Dead celebrations before, and said Pescador’s installation reminded her of those observances.

“If a man died, they had his picture on the table and they would have beer around the frame,” Valdez said. “Each region is different. But this setup is really colorful, because it’s supposed to be a happy event, not sad. That’s why you don’t see any black.”

Pescador said although the holiday is about connecting with those who have died, connecting with those still alive is critical.

“The idea is to bring the community together and then educate the community about the significance of the event and also about the traditions of Mexicans in the U.S.,” he said.

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