Cambridge Kiosk logo

Festival Mictlán

November 2025

November 2025

Presented by Images of Mexico, our November exhibition at the KiOSK celebrated Día de los Muertos with curated artwork about Aztec mythology and a communal altar of marigold flowers, cinderblocks, and messages to the dead.

A hanging mobile of bright orange marigold flowers hands over a cinderblock structure. Art prints hang on wire grids on the left.

about the exhibit

prints

The installation was divided into two parts. The first presented a selection of prints centered on Mictlán, the underworld in Aztec mythology. The collection explored the multiplicity of meanings and practices surrounding this celebration in Mexico through eleven works by designers, illustrators, and typographers.

graphic posters hang on white wire grids in front of the glass front doors of the KiOSK
Letters left my visitors for loved ones who have passed away hang with clothespins on string as part of the communal Dia de los Muertos altar featured in Images of Mexico's Festival Mictlán exhibition. On the left, one reads, "For my father—". On the right, another reads, "Te amo, Mia. I miss you" with a dog print drawn on the bottom right corner.

altar

The second part featured a community altar—an abstract interpretation of a traditional Día de los Muertos altar—to invite reflection, memory, and life. Framing sculptures were adorned with flowers built collaboratively by Latin GSD students and community members visiting the KiOSK. These structures functioned as active canvases, inviting individuals to craft a Cempoalxotchitl (Marigold) flower and write or draw on paper to honor their loved ones in celebration of the Mexican cultural tradition: Día de Muertos. At the center stood a sculpture made of reclaimed industrial materials and earth-based elements. It embodied memory, cycles of material life, labor, and migration—grounding the altar in histories of movement and transformation.

magical moments

The installation opened on Día de los Muertos. As visitors came in to ask about the artwork, students from Images of Mexico invited them to join in folding paper marigolds and writing messages to loved ones.

One performer plays guitar on the left, while another sings and plays the harp on the right. Images of Mexico's Festival Mictlán exhibition is visible in the background.
People smile and play in a community drum circle under hanging chains of paper marigolds
A person wearing a faded green sweatshirt folds and hangs paper marigolds for the exhibition.
an image of a muted green/blue skeleton holding an orange marigold, surrounded by orange and yellow marigolds with purple smoke coming from their head
An abstract design of the deity Mictecacíhuatl, depicted in orange lines over a purple background
A purposefully pixelated graphic of what appears to be a Día de los Muertos skull
An intricate black and white graphic of a skeleton with the text "Las Caderonas 55-56, por la cultura, Calacas del 1er nucleo de grabadrez de puebla"
A black and white graphic of a cornhusk, with tiny skulls as the kernels of corn, over an orange-black gradient background with the text "VIDAMUERTE"
A black and orange graphic of a festive Oaxacan parade, featuring musicians, children, and large puppets
A colorful skull over an orange background, with horizontal sections divided into different scenes or natural life
A graphic of two skeletons wearing sweaters sitting in a sunny field under an umbrella
Letters left my visitors for loved ones who have passed away hang with clothespins on string as part of the communal Dia de los Muertos altar featured in Images of Mexico's Festival Mictlán exhibition. On the left, one reads, "For my father—". On the right, another reads, "Te amo, Mia. I miss you" with a dog print drawn on the bottom right corner. On the bottom, "Ma, thinking of you, always" with a doodle of a cat and a flower.
A pink/red patterned skull/flower shape hovers over a black background
A diagram of a spider-like creature with bat wings and a skeletal core, labeled "ARAÑA DEL MICTLÁN. MICTLANARACHNE NOCTUHORRIDA. Tab. I. Fig. I."
A graphic of a colorful totem structure surrounded by a black and white swirling design.

about the artist

Images of Mexico is a project founded by Harvard Divinity and Graduate School of Design students with the goal of generating spaces in which the multiple realities of Mexico are shown and discussed.

LEARN MORE
A black and white photo of Sitalin Sánchez (left) and Michelle Segura (right) standing in front of a poster-covered wall.