EL SUENO: Ofrenda to our Ancestors

At the event, there was a large quote on display that really resonated with me: "First Generation Americans are the flowers that bloom after generations of Harvest" - Alicia Mullikin. I thought this represented the installation's beautiful ofrenda to generations of ancestors and loved ones that made it possible for Mexican-Americans, like me, to have the privilege of being where we are. I am so grateful to my own family and their sacrifices for allowing me to live the life I lead and study at UW. Alicia told us about the significance of her dance company's logo, which I posted as my chosen event photo. She reimagined the image of Virgin Mary as both a badass woman and nurturing. This was exactly the topic of my midterm paper, the reimagination of Virgin Mary to change the narrative of Latinas and represent them according to the values they were passionate about. Alicia told us she thought of her mother as both nurturing, yet daring, which reminded her of the tough chola figures she saw a lot of growing up. Because this was an ofrenda to the bad-ass, caring women in her life, and all the ancestors that made it possible for her to be a recipient of the "American dream", she used this reimagination of Virgin Mary to pay tribute to their sacrifices. As my paper discusses, reimaginations of La Virgen beautifully tie together important cultural symbols with new values and acknowledge the complexity of women past the typical "suffering" virgin.  This is also a beautiful resilience practice as it establishes the power of past latino generations. Alicia encouraged us to think about every sacrifice made for us to experience the privilege we experience as we made the flowers. I thought a lot about my mother leaving her family and stability behind in Mexico so my brother and I could live out the "American dream". Collectively making all these flowers also felt powerful as it was truly a community tribute that showed these values and ofrenda making is important since so many people took the time to do this.

EL SUENO: Ofrenda To Our Ancestors

At the event, there was a large quote on display that really resonated with me: "First Generation Americans are the flowers that bloom after generations of Harvest" - Alicia Mullikin. I thought this represented the installation's beautiful ofrenda to generations of ancestors and loved ones that made it possible for Mexican-Americans, like me, to have the privilege of being where we are. I am so grateful to my own family and their sacrifices for allowing me to live the life I lead and study at UW. Alicia told us about the significance of her dance company's logo, which I posted as my chosen event photo. She reimagined the image of Virgin Mary as both a badass woman and nurturing. This was exactly the topic of my midterm paper, the reimagination of Virgin Mary to change the narrative of Latinas and represent them according to the values they were passionate about. Alicia told us she thought of her mother as both nurturing, yet daring, which reminded her of the tough chola figures she saw a lot of growing up. Because this was an ofrenda to the bad-ass, caring women in her life, and all the ancestors that made it possible for her to be a recipient of the "American dream", she used this reimagination of Virgin Mary to pay tribute to their sacrifices. As my paper discusses, reimaginations of La Virgen beautifully tie together important cultural symbols with new values and acknowledge the complexity of women past the typical "suffering" virgin.  This is also a beautiful resilience practice as it establishes the power of past latino generations. Alicia encouraged us to think about every sacrifice made for us to experience the privilege we experience as we made the flowers. I thought a lot about my mother leaving her family and stability behind in Mexico so my brother and I could live out the "American dream". Collectively making all these flowers also felt powerful as it was truly a community tribute that showed these values and ofrenda making is important since so many people took the time to do this.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/themes/customizer/3300017047445978664?hl=en

Voicing the Sacrifices

Being in attendance was about dedicating time, thought, effort, and honor to those who have made sacrifices for us to be where we are. It was also honoring the tradition of ofrenda making. 

(Image to be inserted here, link is below)

The central ofrenda idea was "El Sueño" meaning the blossoming of those who have received the fruits of the sacrifices of their parents, along with the collective unique thoughts of those who added their ideas of what they would hope would be the better future for those after them. My personal ofrenda is about honoring the important and meaningful aspects of my life, which include mostly my family and how they have affected me, and my parents and how they have raised me. It's about honoring their efforts for me, as well as what the elements of water, air, fire and earth has come to mean for me. In the El Sueño ofrenda making, we were able to reflect what it means to us for honor our families and what our Sueño would look like, and how important it is for our family's sacrifices to not go unheard. 

El Sueño Día De Muertos Assignment

El Sueño's Dia De Muertos event at the Henry Art Gallery was a very beautiful event. At the event, participants made paper flowers to put up in an ofrenda for El Sueño and their logo which was a Chola version of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Alicia Mulliken founded and directs El Sueño. The flowers were beautiful, and they all came together when everyone was doing a small part, it wasn't a job for only one person but it took a team effort. I thought the symbolism of creating an ofrenda for a Chola Virgen de Guadalupe symbolizes all the Chicanas of the world because La Virgen de Guadalupe has such a large impact on Latina's lives, in fact, my middle name is Guadalupe. With this ofrenda for a new version of La Virgen de Guadalupe, we also were making an ofrenda for Chicanas. I thought it was really important how everyone had a part in this and it could be shown how social death can be reversed if as a group/ society we all come together to show genuine care for one another especially marginalized groups. Aside from this, I also felt really connected to the art there. Coming from a community of over 80% Latinos to Seattle where I rarely see my people, this experience was healing, as well as this class full of Latinas. Seeing how Alicia incorporated our culture into her art really inspired me and felt great seeing this represented in an art gallery. It showed how using our cultura to heal is a form of resilience and we must rely on one another. In my midterm quarter assignment, I wrote about resilience and how ofrendas are a powerful tool of resilience against many issues. And this ofrenda proved exactly that. The bottom picture also inspired me because while I'm a few hours away from my family, the quote really stuck out to me because I'm here at the UW thanks to my parents' hard work and I have to remember that while it is hard, the "flowers will bloom."

 

 

El Sueño - Collective Achievements

For my midterm, I wrote about the power of art in a resilient and educational fashion through altars. I brought in evidence of altars used in resilience after traumatic experiences, such as Ofelia Esparza's altar she made after 9/11. My altar addressed Asian-American hate crimes, specifically the death of Vincent Chin, because current narratives of hate crimes in our communities are focused on hate following the pandemic. Mullikan's workshop, similarly, addressed resilience against harmful narratives such as the "American Dream" through avenues such as art. Each flower at the exhibit represented the privileged experiences first generation individuals have experienced through the fruits of immigrant parents' labor. Mullikan identifies resilience through educating viewers in her art that this American Dream never existed for non-white populations, and that it any accomplishments come through the collective, generational effort of many people. I took a photo of another classmate pinning her paper flower. The flowers have hopes and dreams for future generations written on them, meant to encourage the idea that we pass down our accomplishments to the youth. On her flower, she wrote "I hope you never shy away from the beauty of your culture". I picked this picture because it demonstrated our theme of "La Cultura Cura" by honoring the collective labor of achievements by disrupting the American Dream narrative. Indeed it is a falsity to depict achievements as an individual achievement, especially as members of non-white communities.  

--

Renee Guan 

she/her

Law, Societies, & Justice, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies

University of Washington, Seattle 

Class of 2022 

reguan@uw.edu 

El Sueno: GWSS 451 at the UW Henry #el.Sueno.dance

--