This event also celebrates the mid-summer season with a taste of the cultures that Queen’s students and staff members brought together. Light lunch will be provided.
Date: Thursday 22nd June 2023 Time: 12:00 – 14:00 Venue: Junction area, Main Site Tower / Peter Froggatt Centre, QUB
On Thursday 22 June, Queen’s staff and students came together for a social and wellbeing event, jointly organised by the Language Centre and Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network.
The event included traditional Chinese music on the guzheng, a Taiji martial arts demonstration, as well as various stalls showcasing calligraphy (Persian and Chinese), Indonesian culture, Chinese games, and the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.
Call for participation – from Dr Caroline Linse, Senior Lecturer (TESOL) from School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work
Handy-Crafts consists of a wide variety of engaging, hands on activities such as cooking, card making, kites, paper airplanes, etc. in the target language which will stimulate children and provide the tools for parents and teachers to conduct the activity, (make the recipe, etc. in the target language). Handy-Crafts are culturally relevant plurilingual activities written in clear or simple language…
Dr Caroline linse
Competition information
Please note, the submission date has been extended to 6th May 2023.
Example
For submission, please see download the recipe competition form below and refer to the Handy Crafts website for relevant ideas. For more information please contact c.linse@qub.ac.uk.
Happy Tamil New Year to our QUB Tamil Society and those who celebrate it at Queen’s and elsewhere!
The Tamil Society is a newly ratified Society at Queen’s and they are eager to help a wider audience of students and staff members to get to know their unique culture. Hema from the Society has enthusiastically introduced the Tamil New Year celebration to us.
Tamil Society at the QUB Qulture Roadshow 2023. Image credit: Liang Wang
Tamil New Year, also known as Puthandu (“Puthu” – new; “Andu” – year), is celebrated by Tamils across the world. Falling around the 14th or 15th of April every year, it is a festival not just limited to the Indian subcontinent but is widely celebrated in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, and more. It marks the beginning of the Tamil calendar year and is considered an auspicious occasion when we pay respect to our elders seeking their blessing to mark a new cycle for good fortune and prosperity. On the day, we use the greeting ‘Puthandu Nalvalthukal” which literally translates to “Happy New Year”. Homes are cleaned and preparations are made for the event on the previous day.
There is an important custom that is part of the traditional celebration which is “Kani”. This is where various items such as fruits, betel leaves, gold jewellery, money, flowers and a mirror are arranged on a tray in the prayer room. This is the first thing members of the household will look at when they wake up the next day so as to bring auspiciousness and prosperity for the new year.
Image credit: Hema
Traditionally, on New Year day priests in temple will prepare “Maruthu Neer” which is water that has been boiled with various fragrant herbs, flowers, and leaves. This water is then placed on heads of all family members during their bath. This ritual is believed to wash away all the negative energies from the previous year and bring in positive energy for the new one. After taking the bath, the New Year is celebrated by wearing new clothes, and particularly traditional Tamil clothes. The entrance of houses is decorated with mango leaves and kolams (made of powdered rice flour). We also offer prayers to God and our ancestors seeking blessings for a prosperous year ahead.
As with all festivals, food always plays an integral part in Tamil New Year. A hearty vegetarian feast is traditionally prepared, alongside a very important dish – Mangai Pachadi – a dish made with raw mango. This dish is believed to represent “Arusuvai” or a variety of tastes (e.g. sweet, astringent, sour, bitter and spicy) to represent a new year that should be filled with all tastes or flavors of life.
In a world that is so fast paced and impermanent, Tamil New Year is a time for new beginnings and hope. It is an occasion to forget the past and look forward to a brighter future. The traditions and customs associated with the festival not only bring joy and happiness but also foster unity and harmony amongst family and friends.
We would also like to send our best wishes to those who are celebrating their New Years (Bengali / Cambodian / Hindu / Lao / Myanmar / Nepali / Thai) on/around the same day.
You are welcome to write posts on your own cultures and contribute them to our celebrating Cultural Diversity at Queen’s for sharing.
‘I see it coming – the excitement starts to build up not only in my body, but in my family, in my whole nation, among my people, whether they live or not, in Mexico... The Day of the Dead is expected with illusion everywhere and this festivity is a distinctive feature of our culture.‘
– Ingrid Briano (QUB alumna)
For many of us, the most special period (between the last day of October until the second of November) of the year, when the smells of mandarins and cempazuchitl flowers float in the air preparing the way to receive our ancestors, it is the time of festive peace, of joyful nostalgic that is hard to understand for many foreigners who are equally fascinated and confused when they are in the boiling atmosphere of the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead.
Death is perceived in a very particular way in my country since the pre-Hispanic times, and this is especially shocking for cultures for whom the concept of the death is fearful, dark, painful. For our ancestors like the Mayas and Aztecs, death was in synchrony with life.
Death was needed to sustain life, human blood and sacrifices were needed so their Gods could continue blessing humans with life, crops, prosperity… death was only a stage in the cycle of life.
This is a time for family bonding and gathering, we get together to celebrate the lives of our ancestors, to be grateful for their legacy and to honour their memories. At home, this is one of the few times of the year when all my family sits around the table, sometimes the door rings and suddenly we have uncles, aunties and cousins showing up to eat “un panecito”. This is also a time to discover things about our family, like the time I knew that my great grandparents had to get married in a cave because during that time the government closed the churches and prosecuted priests and Catholics.
If we keep talking about the essential components of this celebration, we cannot forget the “altar de Muertos”, present equally at home, in public buildings and plazas, or in schools, where since we were kids we made them to join in contests against other groups. The altar must contain some elements, like water, salt, the orange cempazuchilt flowers distinctive of this festivity, the portraits of our beloved ones who already departed, their favourite food, and candles to guide them, to show them the way home.
Altar de Muertos
The altar and the elements may vary depending on the region and group. Some indigenous communities put their favourite saints instead of the portraits of their relatives, and in many families we include an arch of flowers that some believe, symbolizes the division between the world of the death and the alive, a species of portal between the two worlds. Because for a couple of days they are among us, they come to taste the food we prepared for them, they come to comfort us for the pain of their loss. It is said that if you try the food later, you won’t find any taste because your hungry relatives already “ate” it.
Although it often takes a few days to design it – buying all the elements and preparing the food – it is a moment of unity not only with the family, but with the community. I always buy the flowers to a man who knows much of my deceased relatives, and I always pull a story out of him of one of my relatives, because “once he saw my abuelito when he was buying some cows bla bla bla….”.
Furthermore, millions of people dress up as the icon of this festivity: the “Catrina”, the fashioned – bony creation of Mexican lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada, who used to portray skulls and skeletons in his illustrations to protest and criticize the Mexican society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These dancing and colourful skeletons invade the streets during the parades held in cities and towns along the country.
And also, you can find the minion version knocking at your door, screaming “el muertito, el muertito” and demanding treats in our Mexican version of trick or treat. This tradition has been changing and getting stronger during the last decades, taking some distance from the similar Halloween, to become a very proud and intrinsic Mexican tradition. You will see fewer and fewer witches, zombies, mummies, and pumpkins, and more and more catrinas and catrines, and characters of the Mexican popular culture like “el chavo del ocho”, Cantinflas or heroes of the Mexican revolution returned from the underworld with a beautiful childish face and some creepy scar and blood on the forehead. I especially wait for this moment, because the kids know that my mom is always prepared with bags and bags of sweets to receive them. When they knock, they are always welcome by an Ingrid – Catrina who gives them sweets, and well, she keeps some to herself, because that day she turns into a little girl herself.
And what about the cemeteries? You would be surprised… don’t expect a chorus of cries and rivers of tears… but to see people cleaning the graves, painting and decorating them, putting fresh flowers and even new toys for a child grave. Pay attention to the families having picnics and laughing around the graves, listen to the mariachis playing ranchera (a genre of traditional music of Mexico) and singing with all their heart… join the party, and above all, don’t be sad. Join our most beautiful tradition, join us to welcome our beloved ones because they never left; join us to celebrate their lives instead of feeling sorry for their passing because they only die when we forget them, and that will never happen, as they will always be alive in our hearts and memory, and they are always loved.
Feliz dia de Muertos!!
About the author
Ingrid Briano Jasso
Ingrid, from Mexico, obtained her MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development at Queen’s in 2018.
Happy Diwali to all who celebrate it at Queen’s and elsewhere!
Diwali (Deepavali or Divali), also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Hindu religious festival and one of the most important festivals within Hinduism. Falling on 24th October this year, it generally lasts five days, and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika.
“Hindus, Sikhs and Jains both in India and across the world usually take part by decorating houses and public spaces with thousands of lights, candles and colourful designs. As well as the bright colours and glittering lights, there’s music, dancing, delicious food and a cresting wave of community feeling.”
Nimmy john Lecturer, School of Nursing & midwifery; co-chair of bame & International staff network
Thanks to the Graduate School’s organisation, on Monday 24th October Queen’s students and staff have joined in the celebration of Diwali at the 1st Floor Social Space of the grand ‘Ruskinesque’ Gothic building, with a taste of Indian tea and sweets.
‘Happy Diwali!’ is the most common festival greeting that people use to send their best wishes to each other.
Did you know that August is the Craft Month in Northern Ireland?
While we hope you are still enjoying the summer days, we would like to recommend the Irish Craft Heroes – 50 Makers X 50 Years outdoor exhibition, as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, at the Ulster Museum just next to Queen’s. It is such a great opportunity not only to explore the local craft culture but also to taste the Irish language through the exhibition displays.
Outdoor exhibition of Irish Craft Heroes | Image@LiangWANG
What’s the exhibition about?
Irish Craft Heroes is a highly-visual, outdoor panel trail celebrating Ireland’s inspirational craftspeople and makers whose work has contributed to the rich tapestry of craft and design practice in Ireland.
The exhibition charts the evolution of the craft and design sector on the island of Ireland over the last 50 years, and pays homage to the many makers whose work has significant legacy.
Below is our selected photo collection of the exhibits for you to view online but with our great passion we encourage you to take a tour of the outdoor exhibition on a great day out with friends and families.
