Programs

Papel picado is a traditional Mexican craft that features colourful paper sheets with intricate cut-out details. It is made by stacking many sheets of paper and using chisels to cut the designs.

Papel picado literally means ‘punched’ or ‘perforated’ paper. This traditional cut paper folk art is found throughout Mexico. This art has reached a pinnacle of expression and is present at every major holiday in the form of brightly colored strings of cut tissue paper banners strung under the portals of homes and across the narrow streets of colonial villages. 

The papel picado not only gives colour to the Day of the Dead offering (altar), but also represents air, one of the four elements that must be present in any offering.