Smithsonian Looking for Dia De Los Muertos Tattoos

smithsonian_latino_centerBy Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum

Dia de Los Muertos will be here sooner than you might think! Unlike Halloween that really is more about the tricks and the treats, Dia de Los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) plays an important role in Latino culture. Celebrated the day after Halloween, DOD is a celebration of family and friends – both living and dead. Families gather and make altars for loved ones, often adorning the altars with various foods that the family member enjoyed in life, pictures, sugar skull candies and much more.

But DOD isn’t staying in the 3D world. It has become a common sight to see DOD themed tattoos. In many Latino families, having tattoos often is considered to be in bad taste. However, more and more people are branching out and exploring this permanent form of art. For most, tattoos are a radical form of self expression and many tattoos tell a story. With the appearance of more and more DOD themed tattoos, this is more than a personal story but a cultural one as well and speaks of the pride that people have for their culture and for those not part of the Latino culture it speaks of their interest in DOD.

Do you or anyone you know have tattoos? Do you have DOD themed tattoos or any kind of tattoo that represents Latino culture? If you do, how do they work into your personal story? Share your tattoo stories with us!

If you are interested in DOD themed art take a look at Sylvia Ji, one of my favorite artists at the moment.

This article was first published in Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum.

[Photos courtesy Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum]

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