Doris Salcedo (b. 1958) is a Colombian-born visual artist and sculptor based in Bogotá. Influenced by her personal experiences, as well as the injustices of those around her, she creates sculptures, installations, and environments made of natural, repurposed, and found objects—including wooden furniture, concrete, and clothing. Salcedo’s work spotlights political and environmental crises around the world, from war to climate change, aiming to give dignity back to those impacted by trauma and loss.
With her installations, the artist provides a space for individual and collective mourning. Previous works have appeared at acclaimed institutions and regarded museums around the world, intending to spark thought, emotion, and change. Her presentation Chairs at the 8th International Istanbul Biennial (2002) included around 1,550 wooden chairs contained between two buildings to address the history of migration and displacement in the Turkish city. Shibboleth (2007) at Tate Modern showcased a 167-meter-long crack in the floor of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall to communicate the severity of separation and borders, and the societal tendency to forget other people’s traumas. At the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Salcedo’s “Disremembered” series (2014) featured sheer silk-like garments as a tribute to American parents who lost their children to gun violence. “Tabula Rasa” (2018), including a series of sculptures presented at White Cube in London, was inspired by her conversations with survivors of sexual violence at the hands of armed men.
In 2023, Salcedo’s solo show at Fondation Beyeler became her first museum exhibition in Switzerland, featuring key works from her career, including the large-scale installation Palimpsest (2013–2017) that honored refugees who drowned in the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas.
