“The work of visual artist and industrial designer Dora Moreno Zúñiga (Cartagena, 1999) is a kaleidoscopic look of personal experiences in her hometown. It is through the legacy of the festive colour of the Caribbean that feeds the tradition of popular culture, where the artist braids emotional and experiential moments of Cartagena. In that relationship it combines the nuances of light and form that she discovers in nature, the sea that is an inescapable presence, but also the exuberance of the colour that is in the flora and fauna, in the natural and cultural landscape, in the masks of African rituality, in the masks of the carnivals and the Independence Festivities of Cartagena, in the prints of the costumes of the dancers, in the indigenous and African blankets, in the hand-carved works and in the primitive, Haitian and shocking Afro-Caribbean roots paintings. All this story painted by Dora Moreno Zuñiga goes through the ancestral wisdom of colour and challenges the everyday world that surrounds it, as if life itself were in turn, the subtle and enigmatic virgin canvas stretched in front of the hands of a child who have been greased with yellow, red and blue, to start a party.” —Gustavo Tatis Guerra.
Colombian Caribbean-born visual artist and industrial designer who works with the myths, rituals, images, and stories that inhabit cultural memory. Rooted in Cartagena de Indias, her practice draws from Afro-Caribbean heritage, Indigenous and pre-Columbian symbolism, Haitian art, and popular culture, transforming inherited narratives into contemporary scenarios. Dora reimagines collective histories through painting, printmaking, illustration, and textiles.
“Colour, symbolism, and craftsmanship are at the centre of my practice, where figures, animals, patterns, and other elements often emerge, transform, and interact, allowing my compositions to grow from observation, travel, and the many visual influences I encounter every day.”
Her painting was selected as the official image of the Independence Festivities of Cartagena de Indias in 2022, and she has received multiple national and international awards and distinctions for her artistic practice, including first prize in the Fact of Fiction Portrait Competition (2025) and the Melbourne Polytechnic Vietnam Postcard Competition. Her work has been exhibited in Colombia, Australia, and Vietnam, and is held in private collections across the United States, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, Colombia, and Australia.
EDUCATION
Visual Arts. Melbourne Polytechnic, Australia. 2025-current
Bachelor of Industrial Design. Universidad de Bellas Artes y Ciencias de Bolívar. 2016-2020
Cultural Marketing. Universidad de Los Andes. 2022
History and Art Appreciation. Universidad de Los Andes. 2021
Art in Colombia. Universidad de Los Andes. 2021
Curatorship. Escuela de Arte y Diseño Corriente Alterna de Perú. 2021
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Recognition Medal
Colombian making an impact in Australia 2025
Awarded by the Embassy of Australia
Melbourne, Australia
First Prize – Fact or Fiction Portrait Competition 2025
Melbourne Polytechnic
Artwork Title: Colourful, Iris Apfel
Melbourne, Australia
Third Prize – Crosscard: From Here to There Postcards Competition 2025
Melbourne Polytechnic Vietnam
Artwork Title: Spirit of Tet
Hô Chí Minh, Vietnam
Winner – Official Poster Design for Cartagena Independence Celebrations 2022
Institute of Heritage and aculture of Cartagena de Indias
Artwork Title: Esencia Festiva
Cartagena, Colombia
