La Catrina at Crossbones Graveyard

Bankside Open Spaces Trust will welcome La Catrina - a statue donated by Mexican Ambassador Josefa González-Blanco Ortiz Mena to Crossbones Graveyard this month.

La Catrina is the key symbol of Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, and is an important part of Mexican imagery and culture. More recently, La Catrina inspired imagery has spread throughout Latin America and globally - becoming part of Halloween traditions too.

La Catrina is a fitting addition to Crossbones Graveyard - a place of remembrance for the outcast dead - her origins lie in statements around mortality and class divisions.

La Catrina is drawn from a sketch by Mexican illustrator Jose Guadalupe Posada around 1910. A satirical artist, the frequent use of skulls in his political cartoons suggested the message - ‘underneath, we are all the same’. His original La Catrina sketch is thought to be a dig at the Mexican high-society’s European obsessions. The La Catrina image later appeared in a mural in Mexico City by Diego Rivera further cementing her place as a Mexican icon.

Now La Catrina is synonymous with Day of the Dead celebrations, a reminder that the dead should be celebrated and not feared.

The clay sculpture of La Catrina will be installed as a permanent feature at Crossbones Graveyard and can be visited from 30th October. Crossbones Graveyard is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 12-2pm. For other visiting hours and information: Helen John, hej@bost.org.uk.