Liliana Angulo Cortés, a Colombian visual artist who became the first Afro-Colombian woman to lead the National Museum of Colombia, died Feb. 21, 2026. She was 52. Her family said she died of lymphatic cancer.
Angulo Cortés was born in 1974 in Bogotá. She earned a degree in sculpture from the National University of Colombia, an MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago and a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Los Andes in Colombia.
Her work examined gender, race and identity, with a focus on racialized representation and the images and stereotypes built around Afro-descendant identity. She developed bodies of work across photography, installation and sculpture, with projects such as ¡Quieto Pelo! and Presencia Negra.
¡Quieto Pelo! was presented as a collective project centered on Afro-descendant hair-braiding traditions, described as a knowledge and practice of resistance, including its historical use as coded communication and escape mapping during slavery. Angulo Cortés also took part in major international exhibitions and events, including the Aichi Triennale in 2022, and her work was highlighted by institutions such as the Museum of Latin American Art.
She became director of the National Museum of Colombia on March 31, 2024. The museum said she had been co-curator of the Museo Afro de Colombia project since March 2023 and led a Laboratorio de Reparación y Antirracismo with Afro-Bogotá communities and Ministry museums.
Her family confirmed she died the night of Feb. 21, 2026. The family said she left peacefully, surrounded by relatives and supported by a wide network of affection, prayers and “good energy.”