MEXICO CITY, Oct 22 — In a workshop in the Mexican town of San Salvador Huixcolotla, three men use small hammers and chisels to punch holes in thick sheets of tissue paper ahead of the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.
The multicolored paper perforated with intricate folk art designs is known as “papel picado” (pecked paper).
It is a central element in the lavish altars erected to the deceased on November 1-2 and is also used to festoon homes and streets.
Papel picado originated in this small central Mexican town in the late 19th century.
