By Ava Schwab | Reporter
Families filled the Mayborn Museum on Saturday afternoon and for the fourth year in a row, hosted the Community Offering or “Ofrenda” in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, featuring an array of artwork, activities and performances.
“Ofrenda’s are probably one of the most important, significant parts of celebrating the Dia de los Muertos traditions.” Waco-based photographer Eric Linares said.
According to Linares, this tradition spans centuries and several different cultures, making it not just a Hispanic holiday.
“I love taking inspiration from a little bit of the history of the celebration and the culture,” Linares said. “Dia de los Muertos is a tradition that is essentially like a mixture of ancient Mesoamerican celebrations and traditions like Roman Catholicism, with modern elements.”
To Linares, that is the essence of storytelling — who finds value in “paying homage to those ancient traditions.”
Linares pointed out how each aspect of the Ofrenda has special meaning. The sculpture, adorned with monarch butterflies, is meant to attract the spirit of loved ones. The candles and fragrances were a representation of Catholic traditions.
“All of the bits and pieces have meaning,” Linares said. “The scents, the copal [and] the miracles attract the spirits of our loved ones to kind of guide them through.”
The symbolism behind the altar gives it an intimate power, according to Linares. With this in mind, his goal is to celebrate Dia de los Muertos with one altar.
“This is a Community Ofrenda, and it’s one that’s made to grow with the people, with our communities. And as time goes on, we add more and more faces to it — we remember more and more stories,” Linares said.
The altar, Linares said to the community of onlookers, means more than just recognition of the spirit of the dead, but honoring the spirit of the living.
“Death is the great equalizer in every sense of the form,” he said. “But through the altar, we don’t have to be afraid of it.”
Daniela Rodriguez, chair of the Cultural and Events Committee for Hispanic Leaders Network, started the event four years ago because she “wanted to connect to young people.”
As a herd of kids rambled throughout the lobby, Rodriguez reflected on past celebrations with a smile on her face.
“We’ve had Aztec and Mayan dancers and full regalia. We’ve had mariachi bands. And this year we decided that we wanted to highlight Central Texas,” Rodriguez said.
Compared to the first year’s attendance of around 40 people, the event boasted about 100 attendees.
According to Rodriguez, their goal this year was highlighting five children with varying talents to assist with the community’s unity, including violin and accordion playing and folklórico dancing.
“This is just the greatest time to teach people about our culture in a light, fun way,” Rodriguez said. “We always coincide with Creative Waco.”
Rodriguez’s favorite part of the event was the sense of belonging cultivated for those attending. Spanish speakers told her they were grateful for the unity the event created.
“This is the one event that [Spanish speakers] can come to and feel like they’re actually a part of it because they can understand it,” Rodriguez said. “So we’re really just promoting a holistic Waco. We’re all feeling like we’re welcomed in spaces that maybe we didn’t know we were before.”
As the last notes of music faded and the scent of copal hung in the air, the Ofrenda stood as a reminder that honoring the dead can also draw the living closer together.
