In 2006 I had the opportunity to create a Mexican Altar to the Dead in the main lobby of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Below is the didactic panel that accompanied the installation:

"Hundreds of years ago, in the land we now call Mexico, people celebrated death as a portal to another realm. This was a practice observed by the Toltecs, the Olmecs and after them the Aztecs, who gave the land its current name, Mexico.

In order to be celebrated, the cause of death had to be honorable. This is why Aztec warriors never killed their prisoners. They liberated them, then hunted them down to bring dignity to their death. Their hearts and blood were used to feed the son god, and their skulls were piled up in structures called "Xompantli", as a reminder that dying was good; death was just part of life, death fed life.

Each year, at the end of the harvest, these piles of skulls would be covered with golden marigolds, to honour the dead, to include them in the cycle of life and abundance. Marigolds are recognized as the flower of the harvest season in Mexico, cultivated specifically for this occasion. Its Aztec name is "Cempazuchitl".

When Spaniards invaded and conquered these peoples, the original culture and traditions continued on, strongly influencing Spanish Catholic culture in the region. Syncretism blends the aspects of traditional pre-Hispanic religions with Catholicism. The deities of "Mictlan", the Aztec netherworld, represented at the time as skeleton beings, acquired the robes and garbs of the European Catholic pantheon, thus giving birth to images like the one which can be seen here at the centre of this altar, The Holy Death. The pyramids of actual skulls gave way to skull and skeleton representations made of paper, clay and sugar.

Today, every year in Mexico, on November, 1st The Day of the Innocents and November, 2nd The Day of the Dead, people visit their loved ones’ graves. It is no coincidence that this is observed the same day as the Catholic Festival of All Saints, and of course, the primeval harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere (Oktoberfest would be an example of it). They bring the traditional marigolds, candles, copal -a substance comparable to incense- as well as all the ancient elements utilized by the Aztecs and Mestizos. In addition, people would set altars at home, the focus of these altars would be photographs or portraits of the people they wish to honour, surrounded by offerings of candy, glasses of water, chocolate, tobacco and mainly, all the favorite things of the deceased person. The main purpose of the altars is the became honouring of the dearly departed.

In 2007 the Art Galley of Nova Scotia honoured the -then recent- passing of a group of Canadian artists whose work is part of AGNS collection. On the altar, there were large, black and white photographs of the artists, surrounded by humble offerings and much gratitude and appreciation for their lives, talent and work".

From left to right: Gordon McNamara, Nancy Edell, Kenneth Lochhead and Lynn Donoghue.