Have you ever experienced art that made you think about life and death?
So there we were wandering past the colorful Plaza Centro where I had been taking pictures of Ajijic’s many gorgeous murals and sculptures. As we walked towards the twin spires of the San Andres Catholic church we passed an elementary school with kids in their uniforms playing and laughing.
And then we turned the corner to encounter this stunning ceramic art installation.
The Muro de los Muertos was installed by Efren Gonzalez, an artist who was born in Ajijic and who lives in his studio just down the street. His children attend the school. All Ajijic families have been invited to take part in the project, and each skull memorializes a local person.
The idea for the mural is to honor ordinary folks.
~ Efren Gonzalez
Translation of Efren’s poem by Susa Silvermarie:
Live and Die
All that lives will die.
All the good, the bad, will be finished.
All that is strong and all that is weak will have an end.
Everything that breathes in, has to breathe out, to expire.
Everyone who is famous will be forgotten.
Everyone who believes himself indispensable, will perish.
Every creator, the ones who sing, the ones who dance—
those that admire, those that underestimate and criticize—
will stop existing.
And if someone is lucky, they will put his name
on the wall and thus he will be remembered a little longer.
And they will be sung and danced,
or underestimated and criticized, and then,
finally, along with the wall,
they will cease to exist.
Eat, child. Sing, dance, love.
You won’t live forever.
Make art for which you will be remembered.
Do it now, you don’t have much time.
Say what you have to say, even if
you have to shout to be heard.
Fight to defend yourself!
Ask forgiveness, or forgive,
whatever you need to do
to keep going forward
Live. Live!
What do you want to talk about today?
RSVPS
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Netroots Nation 2018