A display of paintings from the exhibition "Roots of an Island" held at the National Museum of Fine Arts in 2007.
After qualifying as an art educator in 1996, Christopher Saliba was awarded a four-year scholarship at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia, where he focused on contemporary art. The main areas of specialisation were abstract painting, sculpture and etching. Throughout this period he participated in several exhibitions organised by the Accademia and collaborated with his mentors and fellow students in periodical collective events. His contributions included large-scale abstract paintings and site-specific installations. Saliba read for his Masters degree in Fine Arts in July 2001 and presented his dissertation, La Poetica del Sublime. Upon returning from his studies abroad he settled in Gozo and resumed his profession as an art educator while continuing his daily studio practice. He put up several solo exhibitions in local exhibition venues, among which the National Museum of Fine Arts, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity and Auberge d’Italie in Valletta. Saliba also displayed his works abroad in solo and collective exhibitions, namely in Perugia, London, Paris, Palermo, Manama, Brussels and Milan. He won several prizes including awards in the painting categories of the 2007 Malta International Biennale (135 nations) and the 10th National Art Competition & Exhibition organised at Palazzo de La Salle in 2011. Christopher Saliba's works are found in numerous private and public collections in Malta and across Europe, in Japan, Canada and the United States.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
October 2006, Of Time and Timelessness, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta. November 2007, Roots of an Island, The National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta. July 2008, Defining Confines, Le Meridien, St.Julians. July 2009, Formations, The Citadel Arts Centre, Victoria. Gozo. April 2010, Introspections, the Auberge d'Italie, Valletta. January 2011, Lux Aeterna - Sul Viaggio della Luce, Galleria di Villa Niscemi, Palermo. December 2012, Places Revisited, Chetcuti Cauchi, Valletta. October 2018, Naked Souls, Art Cube, Xewkija, Gozo. December 2019, Red is the Colour, Ta' Mena Experience, Xewkija, Gozo. April 2021, A Collection of Abstract and Semi-abstract Paintings, Chetcuti Cauchi, Valletta.
SELECTED COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS
April 1998, Pruriti (installations), L'Atelier, Via dell' Aquila, Perugia. June 1999, Caratteri 1999 (installations), Sant' Andrea d'Agliano, Perugia. June 2000, Caratteri della Memoria (installations), Parco Santa Margherita, Perugia. March 2001, Estasi (paintings), Galleria Fabbricato d'Italia, Perugia. May 2001, Gener-azioni, Accademia di Belle Arti, Pietro Vannucci, Perugia. September 2003, Malta Day (paintings), St. Columba's Church Hall, Pont Street, London. March 2007, 30 Years of Art in Malta, Intercontinental, St. Julian's. June 2007, Malta International (105 nations) Art Biennale, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. July 2007, Tribute to Malta, Centre Culturel Christiane Peugeot, Paris. March 2008, Selection D.O.C. (in collaboration with Mario Cassar), Gallery art...e, Victoria, Gozo. November 2008, Itinera 2: collective exhibition by artists who studied in Italy, Italian Cultural Institute, Valletta. September 2009, Les Grands Maitres de Demain, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris. September 2011, 10th National Art Competition & Exhibition, Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. November 2014, Selfie: an exhibition of self-portraits, Studio 104, Valletta. October 2015, Places (in collaboration with Paul Stellini), Banca Giuratale, Victoria, Gozo. May 2016,Summer Art Exhibition, the Domain, Manama. March 2018,Embracing Change in Gozo, Altiero Spinelli Building, European Parliament, Brussels. April 2018,Of Land and Sea (in collaboration with Kevin Sciberras and Antonio Mifsud), Ministry for Gozo Exhibition Hall, Victoria. February 2020, EUAsia Creative Mood through Generations of Art (curated by ASG Produzioni and Fondazione Luciana Matalon), Art Fair 2020, Superstudio Piu', Milan. March 2023, The Order of Malta National Art Exhibition, St John’s Cavalier, Valletta. April 2024, Land and Sea (in collaboration with Henry Falzon and Marisa Attard), Gallery 23, Balzan.
