Students called upon the spirits of their loved ones to honor and be present with them in creating “papel picado” after Candy Angel-Diaz, also known as the “Nepantlera Art-ivist” blessed the room with “palo santo” and essential oil sprays. It is believed that calling out the names of the deceased invites their spirits into the space.

Nepantla is a concept of in-betweenness, often used to describe being a part of different cultures and opposing viewpoints that help shape one’s identity. A ‘Nepantlera Art-ivist’ (artist-activist) uses their unique experiences and background to create art that inspires change.

“Now, anything that we do, you know, is in celebration and in honor of them,” Angel-Diaz said. “We will travel through an internal and creative journey of connection expressions and reflections that explore the relationship with our lineage and our ancestors with life and death.”

The University Library partnered with Angel-Diaz to create papel picado to adorn a student Ofrenda (an altar usually adorned with offerings and photos) this past Thursday. This was the kickoff to the Ofrenda, which will be set up in the library later this week in order to honor Dias de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Angel-Diaz has been invited to campus for several years to share her skills and teach students about the culture and traditions of Dia de los Muertos.

Papel picado is a type of colorful decoration made from cutting shapes into tissue paper to create designs, similar to paper snowflakes. During the event, Angel-Diaz shared some history about papel picados and the significance of the fragility of life that it represents.

“I invite you to explore the art concepts and the symbols and metaphors in the imaginal realm,” Angel-Diaz said. “Through this process, we will enrich and deepen the relationships between us and our creations. In these banners, and the significance being as fragile as life, being the breath of life, and [the papel picado] is not supposed to last forever.”

Before creating the papeles, students were taught about the various intersections and beliefs surrounding the idea that loved ones visit after death. Bolivian cultures and Guatemalan cultures have similar traditions to Mexican culture. In Bolivia, “All Souls Day” is a celebration of departed loved ones, often celebrated by decorating graves and sharing with different types of bread. In Guatemala, the Day of the Day is celebrated with a festival of handmade kites, which are flown to honor loved ones.

Guatemalan celebrations for the Day of the Dead are also being celebrated on Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. in front of the University Library, with the Festival of Kites, followed by a presentation in the Ferman Presentation room. Marigold flowers, a traditional flower for Mexican celebrations, are also used in Diwali celebrations, which take place around the same time of year.

Sabrina Silva, English major, attended the event to get connected with her culture and honor her loved ones who’ve passed.

“I wanted to attend more events this semester, but also, I’m Mexican, and I love the whole idea of Dia de los Muertos and about making little things to like, remember people,” Silva said. “ I just wanted to come over and make something nice that I could show my mom to show I’m getting more connected with my culture.”

Silva didn’t celebrate Dia de los Muertos previously, but has become more invested since the passing of her family member and pet bunny.

“When my grandfather died, we decided to start putting up an altar at home. And it’s slowly started to grow. And even though it’s a very small area, I just want something to remind myself of my culture, remind my family who have passed away that I’m thinking of them,” Silva said.

The event was hosted by the ethnic studies librarian Nery Alcivar-Estrella and outreach librarian, Brianna Limas. They have organized a variety of cultural events at the library over the past few years and emphasized the importance of the representation of different intersecting cultures.

“It’s so important to recognize as many cultures as possible without putting everybody in this sort of blanket statement, we’re not all the same,” Alcivar-Estrella said. “You know, even within Latin America, we have Mesoamericans and South Americans, and we also want to make sure that we’re actively not erasing our indigenous roots, indigenous culture and history.”

Especially within the time of Dia de los Muertos, there is a lot of intersection between different communities.

“When it comes to cultural practices and traditions, there is specificity, and then there’s what is shared. So I’ve always found it really interesting that in Mexico, in and throughout Latin America, there’s different ways that we’re honoring our loved ones that have passed,” Limas said. “Then the papel picado – It’s a type of craft that shows up in Asian cultures. A lot of our southeast Asian students, when we set up the altar, get very excited, because they recognize the marigold, because it’s very similar to Diwali. So there’s these similarities that show up, but there’s still these distinctions.”

The Ofrenda in the library has been collaborated on by Limas and Alcivar-Estrella over the past several years. Each year, they gain more knowledge and experience.

“I’m just really proud that we get to sort of put resources into it, put a lot of collaboration and community into it, like we have our own, sort of growing collection of items and our own knowledge,” Limas said.

For more information about the student Ofrenda, go to @csunlibrary and @la_nepantlera on Instagram.