Some 30 artists have created as many clay skull sculptures, which were used in turn to make casts for mass-produced paper skulls. Artists and volunteers plan to make more than 1,100 skulls— each one bearing the name of a soldier killed in the ongoing conflicts. They will be placed on racks that will eventually hold rows of skulls stretching 70 to 80 feet long and 16 feet high.
Artists hope to have several hundred skulls completed for tonight's community Day of the Dead celebration at El Museo Cultural. Once they've made a skull for each soldier killed— perhaps by sometime next month— project organizers would like to send the plaster casts to other communities, where the project could continue as more soldiers are killed.
"It humanizes what's going on and gives us an opportunity to grieve," said Tim Origer, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the group Veterans for Peace, which organized the project.
In some Mesoamerican cultures, the skull rack, also known as a tzompantli, was used to honor warriors killed in battle. Origer said his group's project is based on an ancient belief that a warrior's soul would leave Earth as an eagle and return as a hummingbird, which would act as a messenger or conduit between heaven and Earth.
"It's kind of like a continuous prayer, which is kind what we're trying to do," Origer said.
In addition to the blessing of the skulls, this evening's event will feature a slideshow and book signing by Nina Berman, a photojournalist whose recent work, "Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq," documents disabled Iraq war veterans.
One of the veterans profiled and pictured in the book will also be on hand to speak tonight. Twenty-one-year-old Robert Acosta, who was a munitions specialist with the 1st Armored Division, lost his hand and suffered severe leg injuries when a grenade was tossed into his Humvee last year. Acosta tried to throw it out of the vehicle, but the grenade exploded before it left his hand.
After being hospitalized for seven months, Acosta is now publicly criticizing the war in Iraq, appearing in a national television ad that questions President Bush's case for the invasion.
"I've met parents that have lost children in Iraq, and I've lost a couple of friends, and it's just not worth it," Acosta said in a recent telephone interview from New York.
Joining Acosta in the panel discussion will be Fernando Suarez de Solar, the father of the first Marine killed in the Iraq war.
While the Veterans for Peace skull rack raises the question of whether the war in Iraq has been worth the cost in casualties, project leaders insist it does not necessarily reflect political leanings of those involved in the project. Some of the skull-makers, for example, support President Bush's re-election, according to David Shanfeld, a College of Santa Fe art teacher who helped make casts for the skulls.
"All of these skulls represent different opinions and different points of view," Shanfeld said.
The Day of the Dead, which falls this year on Tuesday, is an amalgamation of indigenous Mexican and Catholic religious beliefs. Traditions focus on celebrating and honoring the dead through artwork, food, dance and processions.
Following tonight's panel discussion and blessing, a procession will make its way through the Santa Fe Railyard from El Museo Cultural to Warehouse 21. The event will continue afterward with entertainment and food at El Museo Cultural.
WHAT: Community Day of the Dead Celebration
WHEN: 5 p.m. today
WHERE: El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, in the Santa Fe Railyard
HOW MUCH: Free
Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal
http://www.abqjournal.com/north/venuenorth/250491venuenorth10-29-04.htm
Friday, October 29, 2004
Paper Skulls Honors U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan, Iraq
By John Arnold
Journal Staff Writer
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