Humberto Saldarriaga was born in Lima in 1984 and from the first months he grew up with his maternal grandparents in the coastal town of Los Órganos, in northern Peru. Being an only child, he says that to feel accompanied he played soccer with his fingers and marbles, this awoke his creative spirit early, which was fueled by the stories he heard from his grandparents at family gatherings and by the sunsets watching the sea.
During school, Saldarriaga detested the Art course since he did not want to replicate the models that the teacher presented but to capture his own inspiration, which earned him low grades, to which he reacted by drawing the wooden folders in his style. Paradoxically, during his university stage, as a Communications student at UDEP, Art helped him improve his grades, as he discovered that in order to focus on classes he had to draw. In that period, along with other friends, he would start the hip hop movement in Piura, which would encourage cultural consumption and social awareness. To keep all his creations he decides to change his university notebooks for sketchbooks. In this way, Sketchbooks and school markers became his faithful companions even when he went on a trip or spent an afternoon at the beach with his friends.
After obtaining the maximum qualification of his Licensed thesis in which he analyzed the film “Do the Right Thing” by Spike Lee, he traveled to Iquitos to work in a financial institution. It is in this jungle city that he meets the painter and National Culture Prize, Christian Bendayán, who became interested in being the curator of his first individual exhibition called “Sketchbook” in early 2010. It is in Iquitos that his vocation for mural painting awakens. doing a 70m² mural on the facade of the Nursing Home in 2011, an activity that he complemented by volunteering at that Home. A year later, in conjunction with the Restinga Cultural Association, he teaches an Art Workshop with young people in vulnerable situations in the Belen district.
It should be noted that his achievements as a Cultural Manager in practice, since a good part of his artistic projects have been promoted by him and sponsored by national companies with a recognized trajectory. In 2013 he quits his office job to devote himself to Art full time. Throughout his prolific career he has made murals in places such as the Iquitos Museum, the Alianza Francesa of Piura, the Peruvian American Cultural of Trujillo, the Casa O’Higgins of Lima, he also received a commission from the National Bicentennial Committee to Carry out a work in the province of Huancabamba and the mural of 759m² in the Piura Children’s Park.
Saldarriaga has worked workshops with diverse audiences such as people with different abilities, older adults, soldiers in the military service, children of fishermen, youth at social risk, among others. Likewise, Saldarriaga has exhibited in the main Cultural Centers and Museums of Peru and Santiago de Chile. The artist has participated in exhibitions with Galleries such as Curator Voice of Miami and has been represented by Haba Gallery of Spain. It should be noted that his clothing designs created for the Kuna brand have been exhibited at events such as Lima Fashion Week, Art Lima and the Arco Madrid Fair. Both in his artistic and professional life, Saldarriaga has achieved several merits at the national level. He is currently preparing a pictorial exhibition on the Amazon fauna.
Applied Studies
- 2016: Heritage and Cultural Management Course in Piura University (Piura).
- 2014: Draw and Paint Courses in Corriente Alterna Art School (Lima).
- 2013: Draw and Paint Courses in Corriente Alterna Art School (Lima).
- 2008: Graduated in Communications by Piura University (IDEP). My tesis was about Afroamerican Cinema got Excelent Qualification.
- 2001-2006: Bachelor in Communications by Piura University (Piura). Merit: Upper Third.
- 2002-2005: English Language. University of Piura(UDEP) Languages Center.