Calaveras 1942

Méndez, Song of Stalingrad The Calaveras "If a definition of the Mexican people be desired, nothing is more characteristic than its attitude of desperate and infinite desire to survive. It is a people that clings tooth and nail to its land, like a lonely cactus, so as to perpetuate itself as an integral part of the land, through the years, centuries and ages, anxiously seeking the most exact symbol of eternity. From this comes the point of view that death is only an act of love, a line of human continuity, the remote dream of its race; whereas for the foreigner, it is a complete stop.

Zalce and Méndez, Calaveras Estranguladoras Zalce, For Pétain, Laval & Co. Calaveras 1939 José Chávez Morado, La Prenza Ramplona

Zalce and Mallary, pages of a magazine published each year on All Souls' Day Calaveras 1948 Miguel Covarrubias, Franco Gabriel Fernandez Ledesma, The Poorest of the Poor Ignacio Aguirre, Potter's Grave Méndez, Calaveras Aftosas con Medias Naylom

Nothing is as original, or as national, as the peculiar reaction of the people to the first and second days of November (days that are dedicated to the memory of the dead). They are really holidays, festive occasions like country fairs, with heaps of sweetmeals, macabre toys and the bright orange flowers called cempazuchitl, which dispel the severe and somber air of sadness in the cemeteries. The daily and close contact with skeletons gives a familiar kinship with death. During those days the satire and genius of the Mexican character comes forth. The people give free rein to their imagination and ridicule everything, especially political figures, in their famous 'calaveras' (poems of sharp criticism). Even today they reflect with a humoristic touch their passions in terms of the other world, thus becoming accustomed to it as if it were reality itself. The members of TGP offer these engravings as a token of solidarity with the anxiety of the people, thus identifying themselves with the most vigorous expression of the Mexican soul." Olivia Peralta.