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Santiago Savi

Santiago Savi

Santiago Savi is a Mixtec painter. He was born in 1984 in Abasolo del Valle, Veracruz, a community with roots in San Juan Mixtepec, Oaxaca. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Autonomous University of Chapingo (2002-2007), was a scholarship recipient for filmmaking studies at New York University (2014), and completed a Master's in Art at the Instituto Cultural Helénico (2015-2017).

From a young age, he worked as a farm laborer and at 18 years old, he migrated to Mexico City for work and studies. After completing his agronomy degree, he worked in Mexican agriculture on economic development projects in various indigenous communities across the country. Since 2015, he has been painting in his self-taught art studio in Mexico City. In his paintings and murals, he likes to depict Mother Earth, the cornfield (milpa), flowers, animals, nahuales (spiritual beings), and textiles. His art is a way to express the Mixtec tradition inherited from his parents and grandparents from the "Pueblo de la Lluvia" (Town of the Rain).

He has directed films and painted over 10 murals in Mexico City, New York, Querétaro, Irapuato, Oaxaca, and Veracruz. He has participated in various solo and group exhibitions in Mexico and the United States. His works are held by art collectors in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Recently, his works were featured in new books by the SEP (Secretary of Public Education).

He signs his works as "Savi" to self-identify with the native language of his parents and grandparents. "Savi" means rain, a force of nature that fertilizes and makes the land bloom; Santiago Savi paints to flourish.

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Tu'un Savi, Language that Blooms

2024
Acrylic on canvas

"This piece is a comma of the word. In the image, a woman appears opening her mouth from which flowers emerge. They are lush, vibrant flowers of various colors floating in the wind. The woman's hair is the color of ñuu savi textiles from the coast of Pinotepa, Oaxaca; these textiles are dyed with purple snail shells, offering endless shades. Historically, the Tu'un Savi language of rain was censored in schools; children were punished and forced to silence their language in favor of learning Spanish. Nevertheless, there were people who resisted and preserved their mother tongue; today, it is part of oral communication in many indigenous communities. I painted this artwork to pay tribute to the linguistic and cultural resistance of ñuu savi, our people of the rain; who, despite discrimination and racism, dare to name themselves, sing, speak, write, paint, and dream in their mother tongue, Tu'un Savi, the language of rain."

Image taken by Alejandra Rajal
Image taken by Alejandra Rajal
Image taken by Alejandra Rajal