Consulate of Mexico in Santa Ana celebrates Mexican culture all week long

By TimesOC staff

Nov. 4, 2020 7:02 PM PT

For the second year, the Consulate of Mexico in Santa Ana is celebrating Mexican culture through “Semana Global de Mexico.”

The weeklong celebration kicked off online and outdoors with Día de los Muertos festivities on Nov. 1 and will continue to produce virtual programming through Nov. 8.

Norma Edith Aguilar, consulate of communications, arts and education, said the Institute of Mexicans Abroad started the initiative to promote Mexican culture across the world and extends to about 80 embassies, 67 consulates and eight organizations like the United Nations and UNESCO.

While the first event focused the programming in Mexican communities around the globe, this year their entire network participated.

Last week, the consulate collaborated with local museums and organizations to produce events following health guidelines — a drive-in screening of “Coco,” art kits to pick up and a mobile altar.

It also hosted a Facebook live event with professor Gloria Arjona to discuss her latest book “Posada’s Unknown Calaveras,” a collection of artist José Guadalupe Posada’s well-known illustrations of Día de los Muertos skeletons.

An upcoming Facebook live event “The Art of Mexicans in Orange County: Traditions, Customs and Languages” on Thursday at 7 p.m. will include 21 county community leaders. The discussion will be divided by three sections: regional Mexican traditions popular in the county, how to encourage a younger generation to participate in traditions and language, and how Mexican culture has influenced the county.

“We’re going to talk about how they share traditions with new generations and how difficult it is to do so for some like the Maya community from Yucatán,” Aguilar said.

The speakers will be representative of the various Mexican regions the consulate recognizes as present in Orange County such as Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit and Yucatán.

The consulate also collaborated with OC Film Fiesta. Although the film festival ended on Oct. 25, five Mexican short films from IMCINE related to death will be available for free online viewing throughout the rest of the month along with the festival’s Q&A sessions.

The short films include “Jacinta,” “La Noria,” “Lluvia en los Ojos,” “Piedra de Caballo” and “Ramona.”

“They’re not like what you would expect with a movie like ‘Coco’ where it’s about the specific holiday. It’s more about mortality, ruminations on life and the hereafter from all spectrums of the human experience,” said Victor Payan, cofounder of OC Film Fiesta. “If you’re talking about connecting with your antepasados, your deceased relatives, the films really make you feel good. It’s family friendly.”

Most of the films are in animation, except for the award-winning “Ramona,” which starts with an 80-year-old woman declaring to her family that she is ready to die. As her son gathers money for a coffin, the film follows her preparation and her neighbors stopping by to say their goodbyes, often in humorous ways.