The Southwest Detroit, More Than A Place exhibition successfully ended with the Happy Three Kings Celebration.
“We chose the closing event for our exhibition one day before the Happy Three Kings Day celebration, which is a festive tradition in Latin America, where we celebrate the end of the festivities. We share with other families bread and chocolate as part of the gifts brought by the Kings. It was the perfect opportunity to combine our home kindness with the community while enjoying the exhibition for the last time before its closure,” commented Mónica Casarez, owner of Blue Order, LLC.
The community that attended the closing event enjoyed a Rosca de Reyes and hot chocolate. The Rosca de Reyes festivity means remembering Christmas traditions and has become very popular in the last ten or fifteen years.
The Rosca de Reyes is eaten on January 6, which is the day the Three Wise Men arrive to visit Children and bring them gifts. “As with Santa Claus, in Latin America the Three Kings arrive this day, and we want to share this tradition here in Detroit,” said María Elena Rodríguez from the History Society of Michigan.
For several weeks the exhibition featured the history of Mexican Town and its people in the Detroit Historical Museum. “For me, it was very important to be one of the curators of the exhibition since we had never done anything like this in an institution that is mainly oriented towards Anglo content. We want the world to realize that we are part of the history of society and the textile industry in Detroit and Michigan,” said Rodríguez.
For Monica Casarez, they got to share and live essential stories from people across the area and different cultures. “Personal stories moved me a lot because of their love and traditions. People shared their stories and also showed their household products.”
From now on, the Southwest Detroit: More than A Place exhibition is looking for a permanent house to exhibit. “At the moment, the collection is going to be temporarily at Xochi’s Gift Shop at Southwest Detroit. Then we will be looking for other places to host the exhibition. If anyone is interested in joining in, please contact us,” concluded María Casarez.
