Ofelia Esparza

I absolutely loved the presentation by Ofelia Esparza and her daughter Rosanna Esparza. I thought one important aspect to her work was her centering of Chicana feminist theory in art. Many of her altars and paintings honor her mother, Mama Pola, and grandmother, and she keeps there memories alive through the creation of public and personal ofrendas. She speaks about her mother as "the warrior woman who raised me" and I think that is significant because a lot of times mothers and women in general get under credited for their labor and work, or they're represented in ways that portray patriarchal notions of domesticity/ women.

I thought it was really cool that she was one of the cultural consultants for the movie Coco. It was interesting to hear her perspective and information around ofrendas and how that was displayed differently in Disney's interpretation. The orange flowers that surround the altar during Dia de Los Muertos are meant to be an archway for the dead to come to the world of the living. In the movie however, the flowers were displayed as a bridge to the living world and resembled a security checkpoint/ crossing. like the US - Mexico border. One profound analogy she mentioned that was illustrated in the film was the idea that people experience three deaths. The first is physical death, where your body dies/ your heart stops. The second death is burial because once you are buried no one is ever going to see your real/physical face again on the earth. And lastly, the third most ultimate death is when you are forgotten in the memory of those living. This explanation really made me think of the legacy people leave and how their memory can often be forgotten or intentionally erased.

This reminded me of the codices of indigenous peoples and how violent colonization is, especially with regards to the erasure and silencing of those violence's. When peoples knowledge source and memory of cultural traditions/ beliefs is destroyed in the next generation of their children through various systemic genocides, something so crucial is lost. It is an attack on the spirit. I really appreciated all the wisdom that Ofelia and her daughter brought to the discussion and their tremendous work in reclaiming her stories that have been lost.