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ShibbolethShibboleth © Luke Macgregor/Reuters/Corbis

Shibboleth

Doris Salcedo. 2007–2008 C.E. Installation

Curator Note

"A 548-foot long crack opened up in the concrete floor of the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Salcedo, a Colombian artist, created this "scar" to represent the experience of immigrants and the racial segregation of the "Global South" from the "Global North." The crack is a physical rupture, a shibboleth (a code word used to distinguish in-groups from out-groups), marking those who belong and those who do not."

Form

  • A deep, meandering crack running the full length of the massive Turbine Hall.
  • Actual rupture provided by opening the concrete floor and inserting a cast concrete mold.
  • Variable width and depth; sometimes hairline, sometimes wide enough to trip.
  • Wire mesh visible inside the crack, suggesting a border fence.
  • Minimalist intervention: no object is added, only space is removed/broken.

Function

  • To symbolize the divisions in society (racism, class, borders).
  • To represent the irrevocable experience of immigration/separation.
  • To disrupt the smooth, monumental space of the Western museum.
  • To force the viewer to look down and be careful (embodied experience).
  • To leave a permanent "scar" even after it is filled in.

Content

  • The crack: a border, a wound, a fault line.
  • Title "Shibboleth": biblical story (Judges 12:6) where pronunciation determined who was killed.
  • Represents the "other" who is excluded.
  • The filling of the crack (after the exhibit) represents the attempt to erase history.
  • The wire mesh: oppression and containment.

Context

  • Salcedo’s work focuses on the victims of political violence in Colombia and beyond.
  • Site-specific installation for the Unilever Series at Tate Modern.
  • Addresses the "unwanted" immigrant in Europe.
  • Challenges the "grandeur" of the museum architecture.
  • Reflects on the legacy of colonialism and the "cracks" it left in the world.