Doris Salcedo, “Uprooted,” 2020–2022. 804 dead trees and steel; 3000 x 650 x 500 cm. Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory, Sharjah Art Foundation, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: Juan Castro)
The phrase “putting down roots” is likely familiar to anyone looking for a permanent place to call home. In deciding to root ourselves in a location, we have the benefit of building a community and flourishing; home is one thing you don’t have to search for anymore. It’s just one reason why being displaced from where you live is so traumatic. Colombian artist Doris Salcedo explores this idea in her large-scale installation titled Uprooted.
In the monumental Uprooted, Salcedo built a house using 804 dead trees and steel. The trees comprise the exterior of the structure, their bare branches creating walls that lack doors, windows, and proper protection. We can see between them and into the interior, making it an uneven and untenable place to live.
Uprooted is meant to be uninhabitable. Salcedo’s use of withered trees, arranged in a recognizable structure, communicates an irreparable loss. This can be assigned in multiple ways, particularly through the invasion and continued assault on Ukraine by Russia. But it also speaks to the climate crisis and how devastating natural events are making some areas unlivable.
Uprooted was recently on view in Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present in the United Arab Emirates.
The phrase “putting down roots” is likely familiar to anyone looking for a permanent place to call home.
Doris Salcedo, “Uprooted,” 2020–2022. 804 dead trees and steel; 3000 x 650 x 500 cm. Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory, Sharjah Art Foundation, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: Juan Castro)
Colombian artist Doris Salcedo explores this idea—and being displaced—in her large-scale installation titled Uprooted.
Doris Salcedo, “Uprooted,” 2020–2022. 804 dead trees and steel; 3000 x 650 x 500 cm. Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory, Sharjah Art Foundation, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: Juan Castro)
Uprooted is meant to be uninhabitable and communicates an irreparable loss.
Doris Salcedo, “Uprooted,” 2020–2022. 804 dead trees and steel; 3000 x 650 x 500 cm. Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory, Sharjah Art Foundation, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: Juan Castro)