Oswaldo Maciá

Oswaldo Maciá (born 14 September 1960) is a sculptor. Born in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, he is based in London and New Mexico, USA. Maciá works primarily with sound and smell. In his work he endeavours 'to extend the meaning of sculpture' beyond an ocularcentric understanding of the arts.

He creates olfactory-acoustic sculptures responding to time, place and the ever-changing nature of our planet. Stimulating questions about how we find our place in the world, Maciá’s immersive scenarios of sound and smell are held in international art collections and have been exhibited globally, including Tate Britain, Manifesta 9, Venice Biennial, Daros Latinamerica, Riga Biennial, MOCO Montpellier Contemporain, and Porto Alegre Biennial. Maciá won the Golden Pear at the 2018 Art & Olfaction Awards for his experimental work with scent; in 2015 was awarded a public commission for the city of Bogotá, creating the first public sound sculpture in the southern hemisphere; and in 2011 received the prestigious first prize at the 2011 Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador.

Focusing on migration and cross-pollination, Maciá is currently working on a major site-specific work for the fortified walls of his home city of Cartagena de Indias and on new commissions with Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany and Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art in Gdańsk, Poland.