In the Midst of Life : Mexican Holiday Honors and Remembers Those Who Have Died

The guest of honor was dead. But it was a great time anyway, with cigar and tequila offerings, just the way famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo would have liked her party to be.

At the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art on Sunday, hundreds of people attended a celebration for Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that honors departed loved ones such as Kahlo, who is revered for her bold art and lifestyle.

“I think it’s important for [Americans] to know about other cultures--how we see the dead,” said Cristina Rossi, 53, of Orange, who wore dangling skeleton earrings to the celebration. “For a lot of American people, [death] happens, and that’s it. ‘We don’t want to talk about it.’

“The dead for us means life.”

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2 with humor and the belief that death opens the door to a new life. The holiday is a blend of Christianity and Mexican tradition, of mysticism and vibrancy. People set up an ofrenda, or altar, for loved ones, and offer their favorite foods along with remembrances, traditional orange and yellow marigolds, and whimsical skulls made of sugar.

The altar for slain Tejano singer Selena included her People magazine cover and a chair for her spirit to rest.

Kahlo’s ofrenda was set up by the granddaughter of former Mexican senator Enrique Morales, who knew the artist in the 1930s. Growing up, Elodia Camalich-Garcia, 52, used to listen to her grandfather’s stories about “Frida,” who died in 1954.

Her grandfather used to watch her paint. Kahlo painted from bed, nearly crippled from polio and a bad traffic accident. Still, she wore rings on every finger and flowers in her hair and bright Mexican cloths.

So Camalich-Garcia sprinkled the altar with colorful jewelry and a scarlet rebozo, or wrap. She left the artist’s favorite food, mole, and fresh tortillas made that morning.

And she mused about Kahlo as an early feminist who left an indelible mark upon her and her mother.

“She was a woman ahead of her time,” said Camalich-Garcia, who lives in Orange and is a former president of the museum’s Mexican American Arts Council. “Frida has always been something special to us.”

Teresa Dever, 16, who visited Kahlo’s ofrenda, celebrates Dia de los Muertos, even though the holiday is not part of her heritage. She learned about it from her mother, who had attended a previous celebration.

This year, Dever set up an ofrenda at home for her aunt, who died in 1995 at age 100. She included chocolate, rosary beads and toys.

“It’s glorious,” Dever said of the holiday. “It’s saying, ‘Everyone dies. Don’t fear death.’ ”

Michelle Bol, 9, said she likes “the parties.” She will be remembering her grandfather, who died two years ago, by eating his favorite food, fish, on Dia de los Muertos.

“It’s something to remember about someone and what they did, and you remember them forever,” she said.