Salvador González is a muralist, sculptor, and painter. He is best known for his masterwork known as el Callejón de Hamel, or Hamel’s Alley, located in the neighborhood known as Cayo Hueso in Central La Habana, Cuba.
Hamel’s Alley is a two block alley created in the 1990s when one of Salvador’s friends asked him to paint a mural in his home. Salvador instead opted to paint the mural outside. El Callejón de Hamel has become a multidimensional outdoor art space complete with live music, theatre dance performances, ongoing murals projects and art education classes. On Sundays, el Callejón hosts it’s weekly Rumba gathering where musicians gather to play, dance and sing to the beats of the Bata’s and Congo’s. El Callejón de Hamel is considered to be a temple to the Afro-Cuban religious cultures where Salvador serves as a priest of Shango.
After the creation of El Callejón de Hamel, Salvador began to receive commissions to paint murals in different countries, such as Venezuela, Norway, Denmark, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. He was also commissioned to paint murals in the United States. Two of his murals are on display in Philadelphia: “Flower for Africa," (2001) is a 60 ft. by 30 ft. mural located in Strawberry Mansion on the corner of Oxford and 30th Street in Philadelphia; “Butterflies of the Caribbean," (2000), is a 60 ft. by 33 ft. mural located in the heart of the Latino community at 2nd Street and Susquahana.
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Solo Exhibitions
1986 Personal show, "Homage to Don Fernando Ortiz" in the Casa de Africa
Collective Exhibitions
1980 Showed at the "Arte Popular Cubano" exhibit at the Artes Decorativas Museum, Havana, Cuba
1981 Showed at the "Artesania y Revolucion" exhibit, together with the grupo Caribe in the Galeria de Arte de la Casa Estudiantil de la FEU,
Havana University
1983 Showed at the "Expresiones Artisticas" exhibit at the Cuban Association of Artists and Artesans
1984 Applied Arts show at the Varadero Tourism Convention
1985 "Latin American Art Anniversary," at the Fondo Cubano de Bienes Culturales
1986 Show at the City of Havana Museum
Show in the Seychelle Islands
“Yoruba Poem” show at Cuban Culture Day, Hotel Havana Libre
Show at the Havana International Fair, Casa de Obrapia, City Museum
Show at the Union de Periodistas de Cuba, with the group “Raices Profundas”
1987 Show at the San Miguel del Padron Gallery, with the group "Raices Profundas"
Group show in Rome, Italy, with the Cuban Association of Artists and Artesans
"Hommage to the King of the Yorubas, the Ooni of Ife" on the occasion of his visit to Cuba, City Museum
Show at the Castillo de la Fuerza, with "Raices Profundas"
1988 Show at the Casa de Africa, Havana: "Hommage to Don Fernando Ortiz, The Song of Ekue"
Murals
1989 "Palo Monte": Mural dedicated to religious culture, Casa de Africa, City Museum
1990 First outdoor AfroCuban mural: Callejón de Hamel, Havana
1991 "El hijo del sol": a 350 m2 mural on the Caracas Hilton, Venezuela
Mural on Rancho Boyeros Ave, with the group Danes Arte por Vida, Havana
1992 Mural at the Escuela Superior on Isla Floro, Noruega
Mural in hommage to Nieve Fresneda, Casa Comunal del Municipio Plaza, Havana
1993 "Ancestros": mural in Xochimilco, Mexico
"Metamorfosis": teatro Mella, Havana
"Ceremonia Egun": Architecural College, Cuba
1994 "Sol de America": at the Queretaro Anthropological Museum, Mexico
Mural at the Instituto Indigenista Otomi, Mexico
Mural at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico
"Madre Agua": Copenhagen, Denmark
Film
Videoclip Iya Oromi with Grupo Sintesis, Cuba. Director: Manolo Padron. Prize at the Tan Tan Festival, Italy
Mensajero de los Dioses First documentary on Cuban Santeria, won Caracol prize in the 3rd Festival of New LatinAmerican
Cinema, Havana. Directed by Rigoberto Lopez
Regla de Ocha o Santeria Coproduced by Spain and Cuba. Directed by Ramon Chile
El Brujo de Hamel Documentary by VideoCuba
Ofrenda a Aggayu Sola Documentary of the Cuban TV station CHTV. Directed by Salvador Gonzales and Miguel Valdes
Videoclip with Adalberto y su Son, a Cuban salsa group, and Isaac Delgado
Salvador, un Hombre de Hamel Documentary directed by Carlos Leon. Won Caracol prize in Havana.