Inside the chapel at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, Dominican artist Scherezade García places the last details of her latest work of art.
Surrounded by the atmosphere of nostalgia, is the installation of an offering in honor of the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead.
“The idea of the tradition of celebrating life and honoring the lives of loved ones who died or died due to the virus, but also the fact that beauty gives us hope,” explains the Dominican artist.
And it is this hope that Scheherazade shares with those who attend this altar that will be open until the first of November.
Similarly, the altar provides that feeling to a neighbor who, accompanied by sublime music, remembers her son Ricardo, who died seven years ago in service in the United States naval force.
The artist herself refers to her purpose: “When you get here, I don’t want you to think that there is something sad, but that it is something sublime and that because of its beauty it becomes sacred”.
The altar is visited by onlookers and also by those who have already placed various photos and food for their dead, because this year the coronavirus pandemic has left several empty spaces in the homes of Sunset Park.
“The experience of the pandemic has touched us all. But, above all, it is the fact of an experience that we are living together,” García details.
The altar is behind lighted candles and others prepared for those who want to add a memory to their deceased.
It consists of 12 paper paintings of about 40 by 60 inches each, with the face of the Statue of Liberty in the center but whose complexion is tan.
“That cinnamon color tells me that it is a story of inclusion because it is the story of the whole world. And I present it as if it were a patron of New York and in this case it is crying for the victims of the pandemic “, explains its creator.
This is not the first time that Scheherazade has created a work of a Dia de Muertos altar, six years ago he made one in Chicago.
She learned from her Mexican friends and hopes that, like her, this tradition will add to the culture of the non-Mexican neighbors of the cemetery: “The Day of the Dead is no longer their tradition, it becomes my tradition.”
The altar is open from 10 in the morning to four in the afternoon and on Sunday there will be festivities and a workshop in honor of the Day of the Dead.
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