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Michigan State University Museum presents annual Day of the Dead / El dia de los Muertos exhibit

Michigan State University Museum presents it’s annual Day of the Dead/El dia de los Muertos exhibit program on Thursday, Nov. 1, 6 – 9 p.m.

The free program features a guest speaker, ofrenda dedication, face-painting, poetry, DJ, dance performance and tamales. The theme for this year’s Day of the Dead/El día de los Muertos exhibit is Latinas in Cinema, and the exhibit in the museum’s main entry hall continues through Nov. 11.

For generations the Day of the Dead/El día de los Muertos has been a unique and sacred festivity for people of Mexican descent on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. El día de los Muertos, an ancient Mexican celebration in which families reconnect with departed ancestors, provides a special opportunity to remember and celebrate the life and legacy of those who have moved ahead into the sacred lands of Mictlan. The realm of the “fleshless” or the dead (Mictlán in Nahuatl, Xibalbá in Maya), according to Ancient Mexican traditions, is conceived to be in a fluid relationship with the world of the “flesh” or the living. “The fleshless ones” are considered to be a living presence in this world while the “living ones” contemplate death as the natural progression of life and renewal.

The MSU Museum is the science and culture museum at Michigan State University and the state’s first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The MSU Museum features three floors of special collections and changing exhibits and is open seven days a week with admission by donation. Located at 409 W. Circle Drive, next to Beaumont Tower, the MSU Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Visitor parking is available in front of the building and at metered spaces at the Grand River Ramp, one block away at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Charles Street. – http://museum.msu.edu