Where art meets afterlife: Gallery Stratford’s Delectable Encounters brings Day of the Dead to community

Robert Windrum, art director and curator at Gallery Stratford, Eric Dimock, gallery assistant, and Rachel Powell, gallery volunteer.

A taste of Mexico is coming to Stratford this month as Gallery Stratford hosts Delectable Encounters: Art, Food and the Day of the Dead, an illustrated talk and culinary experience celebrating one of Mexico’s most cherished traditions.

“The day will feature a lecture by art historian Janet Dawson, who also did a lecture last year. She and her husband are Canadians, and they spent the majority of the year in Mexico,” said Robert Windrum, curator and art director at Gallery Stratford. “She has been doing these lecture-related fundraisers for women’s health organizations in the community in which they live.”

Delectable Encounters is a fundraiser that will support Tepos Roza, a women’s health project that works to lower breast and cervical cancer mortality rates among women in Tepoztlán, Morelos in Mexico. Portions of the proceeds will also go towards funding ongoing operations at Gallery Stratford.

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition that combines Indigenous Aztec beliefs with Spanish Catholic customs to honour and remember deceased loved ones. Families create altars, or “ofrendas,” decorated with photographs, food and flowers to guide spirits home for a brief reunion.

“I think the most interesting thing about it is just the awareness of how different Mexican culture can be from ours approaching death, that they celebrate and commune with their lost loved ones,” said Windrum. “They are very present and engaged with the celebration as opposed to our traditional mourning the loss and pushing them way too far off.

“Death is very much a part of the cycle of life and cycle of the world versus something that isn’t talked about and that’s feared and avoided, it’s celebrations and a recognition and connection to our past ancestors and loved ones.”

The fundraiser will take place on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at Gallery Stratford with tickets at $30 per person that people can purchase at canadahelps.org.

Windrum says the gallery has taken an entrepreneurial approach this year, with strong revenue growth from sales, registrations, participation and fundraising. Following the annual general meeting in early September, several new members joined the team that brings expertise in marketing, fundraising, event planning and financial management. He says the added skills and enthusiasm are expected to help propel the gallery forward in the months ahead.

Registration is still open for the Casual Collective Collage which forms from 6-8 p.m. every Tuesday evening. Admission is $20 per session, or $10 for youth under 18 and those with limited resources. Discounted four-week passes are also available.

Additionally, the gallery offers an open studio life drawing time, which is a self-directed figure drawing studio every Wednesday from 7-10 p.m. Participants are asked to bring their own materials. Warm-up poses range from three to 10 minutes, followed by longer poses in the second and third hours of evening.