Upcoming Classes & Events


All events take place at:

Back from Tomboctou
3564 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 282-8708

  • Papel Picado Cut paper banners - a staple of celebrations in Latin America and Mexico. We have a fun Papel Picado making workshop where you will learn to make traditional paper banners ($15)

  • Sugar Skull Creation A traditional offering for Day of the Dead. This fun workshop goes throug recipes and techniques for sugar skull creation and each student leaves with a completed sugar skull. ($20)
  • Special Days of the Dead Celebration A presentation on the meaning and traditions of this Mexican Holiday. We will make sugar skulls, serve traditional hot chocolate and Pan de Muertos Bread ($20)

  • Altar-Making Learn to make a traditional shadowbox altar in celebration of your loved ones. ($20)

  • Special Movie Presentation: Macario A fable of a young man and the Day of the Dead - this is a poetic and beautiful film in honour of Day of the Dead. FREE! ($20)

  • Art Exhibit and Day of the Dead Celebration
    T Herman presents this exhibit and public altar. Please bring photos and momentos of your loved one to place on the large public altar. FREE!

  • Garden and Altar Stone Workshop Artist Laura Crouch leads a workshop in garden stone, mosaic and other techniques. Create a personal stone for your garden or altar. $15-25 ($20)






Papel Picado

Papel Picado or Cut Paper banners have long been a folk art that is a staple of celebrations in Latin America and Mexico. This Mexican and Latin American folk art is used as decoration during religious celebrations and in more modern times it has also become more common in family occasions. From fairly basic and simple designs in earlier times in the last two generations or so, we have seen much more elaborate and artistic designs being produced. We have a fun Papel Picado making folk art workshop where you will learn to make traditional paper banners. $15.











Sugar Skull Making Workshop

Sugar Skulls are a traditional and favored folk art offering for Day of the Dead. Each student will learn how to make sugar skulls with a mold and will complete a sugar skull using their own design embellishments. Ages 8-Adult. $20

  • October 18 (Saturday) 10am-11:30am
  • October 19 (Sunday) 1pm-2:30 pm
  • October 25 (Saturday) 10:30am-noon
  • October 26 (Sunday) 10:30am-noon
  • October 26 (Sunday) 2pm-4pm










Special Days of the Dead Celebration

Come celebrate Day of the Dead with a presentation on the meaning and traditions of this Mexican Holiday. Participants will in by decorating sugar skulls, drinking traditional hot chocolate, and eating traditional Pan de Muertos Bread. Visit our altar to celebrate and remember your loved ones! $20 - reservations required

  • November 1 (Saturday) 9:30am-11:30am
  • November 2 (Sunday) 10:30am-12:30pm















Special Movie Presentation!

By popular demand we are pleased to show again this remarkable Mexican movie with a Day of the Dead theme.

  • October 25 (Saturday) 4:30pm - FREE!
  • November 1 (Sunday) 5pm - FREE!

Macario (1960, 91min.) Black & white. Spanish with English Subtitles. Directed by Roberto Galvaldon. Cinetmatography by Gabriel Figueroa. Based on the story by Bruno Traven. Starring Ignacio Lopez Tarso, Pina Pellicer, & Enrique Lucero. This poetic fable is an excellent Day of the Dead movie. Macario, a woodcutter who cannot earn enough money to feed his family, swears on The Day of the Dead that he will never eat again until he can have a whole turkey to himself. His wife steals a bird for him, which he takes to the forest where he meets God, the Devil, and Death. Death strikes a deal that gives Macario the gift of healing, but his new powers arouse the suspicion of the local inquisition.

The movie takes place in 18th century Mexico, in a beautiful little village. Tarso gives a splendid performance of a sympathetically flawed hero. It is a political, moral, and spiritual story where Macario conveys the pain of poverty and deprivation. It uses folklore elements with great sophistication to create a work expressive both of national myth and personal obsession. Breathtaking, memorable photography.











The Gift of Grief

An Art Exhibit Celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Visual artist T Herman presents


Honoring and Memorializing:
Sophia Lindley Kessler
Rick Sperling
Iggy
Marco Anguiano
Bob R. O’Brien
Thomas R. Herman
Ottavio Canestrelli
J. Eloise Mitzel Ryer

There will also be a large public altar, and you are encouraged to bring photos or mementos for those who have gone before you.

















Garden Stone Workshop

Back from Tomboctou welcomes artist Laura Crouch as instructor for the Garden stone workshop. Create a personal stone for your garden or altar. Learn basic technique for mosaic in remembrance of Dias de los Muertos. Stones, concrete, and basic decorative pieces supplied. Please bring your own personal objects, such as a dish, a tile a milagro and/or something that helps you remember the one that has departed. Cost: Making of a large stone: $25; a small stone $15 For workshop reservations call or e-mail. Ph: (619)282-8708 or backfromtomboctou@cox.net










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