Shibboleth

Shibboleth was an installation piece designed and completed by celebrated Colombian artist Doris Salcedo at the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern Museum in London.Before Salcedo created the installation itself, she created digital renderings on real photos of the Turbine Hall floor. The artist then printed the rendering before presenting them to the board of the Tate Modern as the proposal for the project.

For the actual installation, Salcedo created a fracture on the floor to symbolize a disruption in time and space, as well as the outbreaks of racial hatred. The installation took the form of a 548-foot long, winding crack in the floor of the Turbine Hall. At the start of the project, the fracture started as a small fracture on the concrete. However, as more people visited the exhibition and walked upon the floor on which the crack was created, it grew larger and larger, eventually deepening and growing. Eventually, the hairline crack expanded to several inches of width and grew to around 2 feet deep.

Before Salcedo created the installation itself, she created digital renderings on real photos of the Turbine Hall floor. The artist then printed the rendering before presenting them to the board of the Tate Modern as the proposal for the project.

By creating the crack on the floor, the artist wanted to mark the divide that has existed between whites and non-whites throughout history. According to the artist, the history of racism has always coincided with the history of modernity, but there has always existed a dark side of racism that has remained hidden and untold.The artist invited the public to contemplate on a much deeper level and observe the world from the perspective of the oppressed, who are often placed at the bottom of society.