One of the aspects of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico City that I enjoy, are the "Mexicráneos". Since 2017, the "Mexicráneos" have been a project of urban art that have embellished the city during this season. They are enormous skulls made (I think) of fiberglass. They are all identical in shape and size, but each one is painted differently by artists.
Wednesday morning I saw three of the "Mexicráneos" on display in front of the World Trade Center which is only a block away from my apartment.
It wasn't until later in the day, when I passed by there again, that I realized that the third skull was still a work in progress. The artist was painting a child with a telescope looking at the starry sky.
The bulk of the "Mexicráneos" have been on display each year along the city's most famous boulevard, the Paseo de la Reforma. That morning after breakfast, I decided to walk to Reforma, a three mile hike, to check out this year´s skulls.
However, the "Mexicráneos" were not there. Someone told me that would not be installed until next week. But then I read in an article on the internet that, because of the pandemic and the enormous crowds that gather to see and photogragh the skulls, this year they are being displayed in Parque Bicentenario, a very large park in the northern part of the city. There are 131 "Mexicráneos". Fifty eight of them are on display here in the city, and the others are on tour to other countries.
I visited Parque Bicentenario back in February of 2020, the last trip that I took before COVID. You can read my description and see photos of the park HERE. I am not keen on taking public transportation during the pandemic, but I will have to take the subway to get there. Fortunately it is not a Metro line that is generally crowded. Alejandro said that he will go with me on Saturday.
Even though I did not find the skulls along Reforma, my long walk yielded a lot of photos, and more topics for blog posts in the next few days.
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