‘Bouquets to the Dead,’ a living memorial
“When I first began learning and thinking about Dia de Los Muertos, it totally cracked my heart open,” says Sonoma artist Natasha Drengson, creator of the annual Bouquets to the Dead event at Sonoma Mountain Cemetery, Oct. 29 and 30.
“For so many, death is a fearful thing,” she says, “but Dia de Los Muertos reminds us it can be a beautiful and loving thing to join together in recognizing and celebrating our own mutual mortality.”
Drengson says Bouquets to the Dead is her way of “bringing love and awareness to (mortality), by encouraging artistic expressions of honor to those loved ones who’ve passed away - before it’s our turn to go, too.”
Dia de los Muertos, Nov. 1, is a significant holiday originally celebrated throughout Mexico. It’s a time of honoring ancestors and remembering loved ones who’ve passed away by leaving treats and flowers on altars or in cemeteries. Over the last several decades, the annual observance has become multicultural, and is widely embraced throughout Sonoma County, with numerous events marking the day.
Drengson’s sweetly eccentric event is exactly what she describes – an artistic “honoring of our ancestors,” featuring a number of fanciful, inventive, often deeply moving altars, erected throughout the cemetery. The sometimes elaborate art pieces are built from flowers, and a variety of found objects - wood, feathers, skulls, paper lanterns, etc., and often employ highly imaginative themes. Past installations have included walkable labyrinths, prayer flag fences, paintings, sculptures and towers of toys, to honor the lives of children who’ve passed away.
Visitors can feel free to park and walk among the tombstones to observe the art pieces, but should know they can also drive through and get a very good look at the installations. Per tradition, the sculptures will be up for two days only.
“It’s very temporary, like life,” laughs Drengson.
She estimates that 20 artists will be creating original sculptures. “I have the most artists ever, this year,” she says, adding that some of the artists will be introducing influences that extend beyond Mexican culture and embrace other worldviews of death and dying as well. “In America, we tend to fear death, but by looking at the traditions of other cultures, from Asian cultures to African cultures, we can benefit from how they embrace the inevitability of death. Though the bridge to this work, for me, was through Latin culture, I can see that in the future we will expand this in all kinds of beautiful ways.”
The event begins with a gong ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, and ends with a noon-to-2 p.m. potluck and closing circle at dusk, Sunday, Oct. 30. It takes place at Sonoma Mountain Cemetery, 90 First St. W., from dawn to dusk and is free.
Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.
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