Call for Entries – Día de los Muertos:: Memories Written in Verse at the Bath House Cultural Center

Entries Deadline: Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Bath House Cultural Center will present the 32nd Annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) art exhibition, October 13-November 10, 2018. Reception: Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018 (5-7 PM).

This show features local, regional, and international artists working in traditional and contemporary styles to celebrate, explore, and honor people, things and ideas that have “passed on.”

The theme for the 2018 Día de los Muertos exhibition is Poetry.

The celebration of the Day of the Dead has always encouraged the creation of many art forms, including the literary arts.  A common event during the festivities is the presentation of performances and staged works that are inspired by writings that investigate the concept of life and death.  For example, the poetic play Don Juan Tenorio, in which the death of the main character plays a central role (written by Jose Zorrilla in 1844), is performed across Spain and some Latin American countries every year on All Saint’s Day. Morality plays, religious songs, and comedic writings have been incorporated into the Día de los Muertos tradition for many years.

Another example of the literary and poetic side of the Day of the Dead is the traditional calaveras literarias (skull poems), which are simple forms of poetry that are written to honor, celebrate, or sometimes satirize dead or living people during the holiday.  Because poetry is often seen as a genre of literature that gives special emphasis on the expression of feelings, its inclusion in the celebration of the memory of loved ones during the Day of the Dead is a natural fit.

FREE to enter. To read the exhibition prospectus and submission instructions, visit

www.bathhousemedia.com/muertos