The Colombian artist Delcy Morelos (b. 1967, Tierralta) invites visitors at the Bozar art centre to enter the Womb her installation Uterus in Uterus, presented in the Horta Hall, a space resembling an ancient temple of art. It is a pure example of late Art Deco at its finest, designed by the architect Victor Horta.

Your entire cultural background inevitably suggests that the form of the installation evokes ritual structures – Mesoamerican pyramids, ancient Egyptian mastabas or the communal maloca houses of the Amazon (at least from history textbooks; some of us have been fortunate enough to encounter them in real life). Yet the artist insists that this is a Womb (Uterus) – a place where one can take shelter and experience a sense of safety. A return to the womb of the mother (and of nature).

Before entering, visitors are asked to remove their shoes ) one should not storm into the maternal womb wearing footwear. The nostrils, too, must remain open: as in all her projects, Delcy Morelos has collaborated with a professional perfumer, in this case Najib Achaibou, who has filled the space with scents of damp earth, wood, flowers and natural essential oils. The exhibition opened on 25 June, one of the hottest days of the summer of 2026, which made the aromas intensify many times over.

The artist encourages us to engage with our own physicality, to experience Uterus in Uterus through all our senses:

• The artwork enters your body through your nostrils, and at that moment you become one with the work.
• This mound of earth is both like an altar and a machine that generates love. It is a mountain that embraces you.
• Walking barefoot means being both vulnerable and rooted at the same time. It reconnects the body with ancient memory and with the Earth.
• To touch the earth is to allow the earth to touch you.
• Ancestral knowledge is vital for shaping a better future. As Ailton Krenak has said: “If humanity has a future, it lies in its ancestors.”

(Delcy Morelos)

The trapezoidal installation, measuring 14 metres in length and 9 metres in width, is built according to the principle of a complex protective structure resembling a bird’s nest. Its framework consists of hazel panels covered with a mixture of red Walloon clay, sand, hay and spices – cinnamon and cloves. Only organic materials are used, as carriers of their own energy and memory. Drawing on the image of Pachamama – Mother Earth in Incan mythology – Morelos invites us to perceive the earth as a sensual and powerful force, rooted in the beliefs of Indigenous peoples and in ancient ancestral knowledge.

Morelos’s warm, organic structure simultaneously interacts with and contrasts against the strict geometry of the Horta Hall, with its marble, concrete and glass. Through this dialogue between materials, the artist invites us to look at the architecture of the Horta Hall itself from a new perspective. The marble that dominates the space has the same origin as the earth used in her installation – both materials are born from nature and emerge from mountains. By bringing together materials that appear to be opposites – cold, monumental marble and warm, malleable earth – Morelos reveals their profound connection to nature and highlights the poetic power of the elements that surround us.

Project curator: Emma Dumartere.

The research into biomaterials was carried out within the framework of the Studiotopia programme, in collaboration with BC architects & studies & materials. In collaboration with the Mexican architecture studio TAMAT – Rob Allen, Julián Ramírez and Paula Amin.