The 2025 National Salon of Artists Will Take Place in Cauca with a Territorial and Community-Based Focus

Between October and December 2025, the 47th edition of the Salón Nacional de Artistas (National Salon of Artists) will take place under the title KAUKA, asamblea de mundos posibles (KAUKA: Assembly of Possible Worlds). Unlike previous editions, this year's event will be held primarily in the southern region of the Cauca department, with main venues in Popayán, Santander de Quilichao, and over 15 other municipalities.

With a decentralized approach, the curatorial proposal aims to connect community-based artistic practices and ancestral knowledge through a territorial lens. KAUKA, a word in the Misak language meaning “mother of the forests,” proposes a form of artistic creation that engages with local wisdom, diverse bodies, and living memories from southwestern Colombia.

The curatorial team is composed of Carolina Chacón Bernal, Catalina Vargas Tovar, the Willka Yaku Ancestral Council, Eblin Grueso Cuero, and Laura Campaz Minota, who were selected through a public call and evaluated by a committee of former SNA directors. Each member brings a unique perspective rooted in memory, resistance, living spiritualities, and alternative forms of knowledge.

Backed by the Ministerio de las Culturas, this new direction for the Salon is conceived as a collective, affective, and political process—moving away from traditional exhibition models and embracing more horizontal, inclusive, and territory-aligned forms of creation.