Dia de Muertos
October 2003

El Dia De Muertos, or better know as the Day of the Dead, was be celebrated in 2003 as part of the Seattle Center’s FESTAL program. 911 Media Arts Center collaborated with Casa De Artes (House of Arts) to ensure a digital experience during the festivities. 911 staff member Jesus Velazquez coordinated a series of visual presentations put together by different artists during the event.

As part of the festival’s presentations, Casa De Artes screened a famous Mexican film, which explored the history and traditional folk art used for the Day of the Dead. The program included traditional and contemporary dance, altars, poetry readings (Calaveritas), folk art and pre-Hispanic ceremonies celebrating and honoring death. In addition, throughout the day digital art was screened and projected in various forms such as 2D animation, video footage from previous festivals, and photographs.

Two weeks prior to the event, 911 Media Arts Center hosted a series of digital art related to the event, which was be shown for two weeks as part of the 911 Windows installation project at our previous location on Yale Avenue. In order to incorporate community members to participate in this project, 911 also held a 2D animators contest.