Liliana Angulo Cortes, director of Bogota's Museo Nacional de Colombia, has died, aged 51

"Although the museum had already begun revising its curatorial priorities in 2011 to incorporate more diverse perspectives, Angulo's appointment in March 2024 marked a decisive acceleration of that shift. She sought to reposition the institution as a space for confronting colonial memory and the historical marginalisation of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities."

"An artist and researcher born in Bogotá in 1974, Angulo studied at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Illinois Chicago as a Fulbright scholar. Her practice focused on the body, race and the representation of enslaved people and Afro-Colombian communities, drawing on archival documents and museum collections."

"Under her leadership, the museum expanded initiatives such as the Laboratorio para la Reparación y el Antirracismo, which examines how national collections shape ideas of identity and belonging."

Liliana Angulo Cortés, an artist and researcher, became the first Afro-Colombian director of the Museo Nacional de Colombia in March 2024, accelerating institutional efforts to reinterpret the collection through a decolonial lens. Founded in 1823 by Simón Bolívar, the museum houses pre-Hispanic artifacts to contemporary art spanning over two centuries. Angulo's tenure prioritized historical reparation and confronting colonial memory, repositioning the institution to address the historical marginalization of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities. Her practice examined race, the body, and enslaved peoples through archival research and museum collections. She expanded initiatives like the Laboratorio para la Reparación y el Antirracismo, which investigates how national collections shape identity and belonging. Her leadership marked a decisive shift in the museum's curatorial priorities and narrative approach to Colombia's cultural history.

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