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hat's with the memorials on the back windows of Mexican cars? Some days, driving through Santa Ana, I feel like I'm navigating a cemetery. — Muerte manDear Gabacho: Ruminating on the Mexican obsession with death is as hack as a reporter rolling with gangsters. Yes, Mexicans embrace death — we laud it in song, codify it with holidays, and, sí, plaster the names and dates of birth and death of our deceased beloveds on car windows, ornate back tattoos and even sweatshirts. "In Mexican homes across Aztlan, an altar is usually present," notes La Pocha, a SanTana artist who specializes in Day of the Dead lore. "In this modern age, spending more time in our cars than our homes, resourceful Mexicans have placed mini-mobile altares in their vehicles. Now you can honor your dead homies while cruisin' in your Chevy. That's progress!" 1 2 Next Page > Email Gustavo Arellano Recently in Arts & Culture AtticRep's 'Virginia Woolf' is side-splitting and soul-searching Families fare badly in Western drama. Oedipus kills his father, Lear's daughters connive against one another, and Ibsen's Nora walks out on her husband and their... | 8/22/2012 Live Active Cultures Urban ReThink's Collide*scope series presents an electric evening – and schemes a safe harbor for the homeless | 8/22/2012 Culture 2 Go Newly launched Orlando Design District keeps Orlando ODD; GOAT christens new permanent space; "Blood Sisters" goes to the DNC | 8/22/2012 We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines: To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here. Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions. Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href="http://disqus.com/?ref_noscript=sanantoniocurrent">comments powered by Disqus.</a> comments powered by Disqus

Ancestor worshipping is not asking for favours, but to fulfil one’s filial duties.

respect, honour and look after ancestors

joss stick

A butsudan is a wooden cabinet with doors that enclose and protect a gohonzon or religious icon,

The butsudan is commonly seen as an essential part in the life of a traditional Japanese family as it is the centre of spiritual faith within the household, especially in dealing with the deaths of family members or reflecting on the lives of ancestors. This is especially true in many rural villages, where it is common for more than 90% of households to possess a butsudan, to be contrasted with urban and suburban areas, where the rate of possession can drop down to below 60%.[5]

candlesticks, incense burners, bells, and platforms for placing offerings such as fruit, tea or rice.

What is art?

science of abstract harmony, i.e. a form of geometry and mathematics

Is art a uniquely human activity?

Below is a picture of a typical Japanese “Butsudan”, a portable alter for the home to honor deceased relatives. This is all about traditional Japanese ancestral worship. The Butsudan below is set up for my wife’s late grandfather and grandmother. Every night my mother-in-law makes an offering. This has nothing to do with a belief in the afterlife as my in-laws are not religious folks at all; it’s about bringing memories of the deceased into this world. Mom continues to keep the tradition alive, evidence of the power of culture in driving behavior.

technology and the aesthetics.

fades the further back in time we look. The earliest known pot making dates to about 10,000 BC in parts of Asia with other evidence from the middle east dating to about 6,000 BC.

The earliest know glazes are found in the Nile valley about 5,000 bc

Ancestor veneration

practice based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence and take an active interest in the world of the living

Filial Piety

y uncalibrated radiocarbon dating, to around the 11th millennium BC, in the Japanese Palaeolithic at the beginning of the Jomon period.

ians. Pieces from the Predynastic period (5000 bc-3000 b

Majolica

rs to a process that the Italians used in the 14th Century to produce ceramics. This technique consisted basically of applyin

The Talavera pottery has its roots in the Arab-

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all

cultural blending

Christian Holiday of All Soul's Day

celebration of the dead