VDDLM - 26th Annual Virtual El Día de los Muertos Community Celebration

Annually, OMCA is transformed into a sacred space, and this year, the OMCA El Día de los Muertos Volunteer Committee members welcome you, and every generation of your family, to their homes and gardens, to join us virtually for one-hour of celebration with Mesoamérican traditions. Helping us understand the context of this year, the committee guides us through an opening ceremonia of the Four Directions, invoking traditions that heal and comfort, while teaching us how to build an altar for the dead.

Explore their ofrendas (altars) honoring those that we mourn in the community due to COVID-19, California fires, immigration/ICE, and Black Lives Matter, with the Omnira Institute. Enjoy Danzantes of the East Bay featured throughout the event. Hear a multigenerational conversation about the traditions, and learn how to make papel picado at home.

All precautions were made for the health and safety of the committee and program participants in alignment with the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Alameda County Public Health Department websites in the production of this event.

Due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is closed until further notice. We will continue to follow public health updates and provide information regarding the Museum's reopening date as we receive it.
PROGRAM

0:33 Danzantes of the East Bay in Berkeley’s Ohlone Park
Offering four traditional prayer dances recognizing the elements of fire, earth, air and
water in Berkeley’s Ohlone Park.

02:11 Opening Ceremonia: Four Directions

13:47 Altars/Ofrenda: COVID-19

24:49 Altars/Ofrenda: California Wildfires

29:51 Altars/Ofrenda: ICE/Immigration

39:32 Altars/Ofrenda: Black Lives Matter with the Omnira Institute
Sinku "Building a House of Light” Ceremony
All songs & drumming: Oro Egun “a litany for the ancestors”

47:28 In Conversation: El Día de los Muertos Traditions with Bea Carrillo Hocker and Isabela Perez

55:55 In Studio: Papel picado with Rebecca Recco

1:03 Closing Ceremonia

Sincere thanks to all those who supported this year’s Virtual Día de los Muertos Celebration!

Explore full Virtual El Día de los Muertos offerings at OMCA at Home.