A spooky fair trade Halloween - from Mexico!
We love Mexico - as anyone who has been in the shop will testify! It's an incredibly friendly country with amazing food, jaw-dropping scenery and just slightly better weather than here in the UK. Of course, it has its problems - corruption, issues with drugs, and levels of poverty we're not used to here in the UK. But it's a place we have visited again and again and never grown tired of. November sees one of our favourite Mexican festivals - the Day of the Dead.
Day of the Dead takes place on the 1st and 2nd November, and all over Mexico families will go to clean up graveyards, tidy up memorials to their ancestors, and generally celebrate the lives of their forefathers. It's a hugely upbeat festival - without any of the morbidity or sadness we associate with death or funerals. It's also very moving to see people who feel connected to the past - not shutting off their feelings or emotions. We think it's a healthy thing!
Every year we get a selection of skulls from Mexico, and I have to say this year's batch are the best yet. Our contact Alberto runs a project called Mexican Fine Arts, and he hand-picks the items from artisans across the country. This year he was in Cuernavaca, a city we lived in for a while on 2005, and where Malcolm Lowry set his masterpiece "Under the Volcano." The skulls capture the colour, passion and humour of Mexico perfectly.
We've taken the difficult decision not to sell the skulls online this year - they are difficult to post, and to be honest sell so quickly in the shop that by the time we've done the photography they'd be gone! But if you simply must have one - drop us a line and we can discuss :)
We also have a fantastic "Day of the Dead" party coming up in Hay - Friday 4th November at Hay Castle!