Join Williamsburg resident Jose Lopez Ganem for a conversation about Día de Muertos, a Mesoamerican tradition seen from the perspective of Mexico — the epicenter of this syncretic practice, (re)born of the encounter between Indigenous beliefs and the Spanish conquest. We’ll look at how this reflection on the souls of the past overlaps with familiar Judeo-Christian beliefs, while keeping a method of celebration unique to the Indigenous peoples who continue to live and celebrate across the middle of the continent. Pan de muerto — Day of the Dead bread — will be served.

Patrons are also invited to bring a photograph or meaningful object in memory of a loved one who has passed and add it to the library’s ofrenda.

Presenter bio: Jose Lopez Ganem is a lecturer in Boston University’s Food Studies programs and executive director of the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research, which he co-leads with his wife, Carla Martin, another Williamsburg resident and a Harvard professor. His work examines the real economic and cultural relationship that Mexico and Mexicans have with cacao, and how that sits alongside the international market. Within the Mexican calendar, Day of the Dead is one of the most important chocolate occasions of the year — both for the diversity of what is consumed and for the economic output it represents for cacao producers around the country. From an early age, Jose competed – and eventually lead his team – Mexico City’s Day of the Dead altar competition, a regional contest among middle and high schools across a city of more than 20 million people (for contrast, Williamsburg has proudly above 2,000 living souls!), earning gold multiple times at the neighborhood, borough, and city level. He has continued to build an altar every year since immigrating to the United States, and it is now an important staple of his household in Massachusetts.