Paris (AFP)

The Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, known for her sculptures and especially her monument made of fused weapons of the former FARC guerrillas, was awarded Thursday the first Nomura Art Award, the most richly endowed prize in the field of contemporary visual arts.

The $ 1 million prize was presented at a ceremony in Shanghai, China. It should enable it to "take up new challenges and explore new creative ways," says the Japanese financial holding company in a statement.

"Realizing projects that honor the memory of victims of violence involves a great investment of time and organization, and sometimes the help of many collaborators.This award will allow me to move much faster in a project that is particularly important to me. ", responded the sculptor born in 1958 in Bogota.

She has been working since 1999 on a series of "Acts of Mourning", composed of ephemeral monumental works evoking the pain caused by the conflict in Colombia.

His most recent work "Quebrantos" ("Broken") was made in June in memory of the defenders of murdered rights. This is a broken glass installation. The names of 165 defenders of the rights killed were transcribed in giant letters on cobblestones, using stencils. Then they were covered with glass that activists then trampled.

She now wants to continue this series outside of Bogota.

Celebrated and exhibited throughout the world, Doris Salcedo's work often refers to events in the history of his country.

Reacting to the negative outcome of the referendum on the approval of peace agreements to end nearly 60 years of civil war, she had created a work in the form of a banner of 7,000 meters long - sort of shroud - on which were inscribed the names of victims of the civil war.

© 2019 AFP