T'antawawas are sweet breads that are placed on altars on the Día de los Muertos. They are shaped like people, animals, flowers, etc.

What you see in the picture is not a t'antawawa as such because I never learned how to make them or celebrate the Día de los Muertos.

The only one who did was my grandmother, who was Quechua and Bolivian. But she did everything in secret; she couldn't talk about her culture, and she forbade her children and grandchildren from doing so.

But she made bread for us every year.

If there is one thing she taught me, it is to love a culture I never knew, but which she passed on amid shadows, silence, and violence, leaving behind crumbs of what it once was.

Collage made from photography and elements from Canva. .png 1350x1350px

The original piece is “Pan de Abuela” available on my profile.