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This
week Mexicans will celebrate Día de los Muertos, or Day of the
Dead. A feature of all the events will be countless
reproductions of a garish skeleton with a wide, toothy grin,
wearing an extravagant hat.
Known
as “La Catrina,” the image can be traced to José Guadalupe
Posada, a Mexican engraver who died in obscurity in 1913. His
broadsides featuring uncanny skeletons were sold for pennies
to working-class Mexicans.
In
a story of patronage, propaganda and globalisation, cultural
historian Mathew Sandoval details
how Posada’s “Catrina” was transformed from the subject of
cheap prints into a transcultural icon who has appeared in
parades and been featured on everything from beer cans to
Barbie dolls.
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