October 30, 2022

Tools used for "papel picado," the traditional manufacture of tissue paper cut-out decorations, long used in altars for the Day of the Dead, lay on top of a stencil in a workshop Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, in Xochimilco, a borough of Mexico City. Experts say the artform, which began in the 1800s, is probably a continuation of a far older pre-Hispanic tradition of painting ceremonial figures on paper made of fig-bark sheets. Mexican artisans adopted imported tissue paper because it was cheap and thin enough so that, with sharp tools, extreme care and a lot of skill, dozens of sheets can be cut at the same time. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)