1993 First prize in the Open Competition in stone Sculpture Great Commonwealth of Peace
and Prosperity, Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.
1976 He obtained a Scholarship granted by the Italian Latin-American Institute of Rome,
Italy
2004 Art Gallery Pegasso, Forte Dei Marmi, Italy
2005 Palazzo Mediceo, Seravezza, Italy
Introduction
Meliton Rivera Espinoza, the second of three brothers, was born in Huacar in the province of Chancay (Peru) in a small village in the Peruvian Andes. As a child, roaming alone through the silence of the deep abysses of these mountains, he discovers Pre-Columbian constructions that will remain an unsolved mystery for a long time; feels a strong attraction mixed with a little fear; detects an intense smell which frightens him. At the age of seven he makes his first toys out of wood and discovers his manual dexterity; at the same time, he feels unhappy, misunderstood by his family and dreams of leaving for far away, a desire which grows day by day. In 1956 he finishes primary school, is 12 years old, and he asks his father to take him to Lima to continue his studies. In 1958, finally in the big city, he lives with a family, working for them by day and studying by night; his real adventure had begun and it wouldn't be very easy; he changes family four times. In 1960 he goes to work in a stationary shop, he's 14 years old, living independently with his elder brother. In 1961 he changes job and works for a printer, discovering his first art book which arouse a particular emotion within him. In 1962 he finds work in the pubblicity department od a furnishing shop, at the same time continuing with the last years of his Media studies; at the time he is invited to watch a film at the National Academy of Fine Arts. There he has his first encounter with the art that would definitely marks his destiny.
In 1965 his life is shattered when he loses his elder brother in a tragic accident; a year later he leaves his job. In 1967 he enters the National Academy of Fine Arts in Lima (Peru), studying painting, design and graphic art, and gets his degree with top marks in 1971. At the Academy, he makes friends with the carpenter, who becomes one of his dearest friends, teaching him how to work wood and thus helping him pay his studies. From 1968 onwards, he takes part in various collective exhibitions. In 1970, he goes on a study tour to Chile, Argentina, Brazil. In 1973 he makes the big jump; his dream is to go to Europe, the political situation in Peru is difficult and he decides to leave for Brazil, living in Rio de Janeiro for two years where he has two personal exhibitions of his paintings. At the end of 1975his dream comes true. He leaves for Europe on a merchant ship, stopping first at Rotterdam, then Bremen, and finally Rome where he lives for two years. In 1976 he wins a grant from the Italo-Latin American Institute to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and from that moment his true passion for marble becomes even greater.1978 he moves to Florence, where he lives for more than a year, taking part in a biographical film ""Three painters"", directed by Rafael Guzman, with Christian Olivares (Chile), Carlos Nakatani (Mexico), and Meliton Rivera E. (Peru). At the end of 1979 he visits Carrara and then Pietrasanta, deciding to move there permanently. In 1981 he travels to Portugal and stays there for three months, working in sculpture at the Studio Irmaos Baptists in Pero Pinheiro. From 1980 onwards Meliton Rivera, onwards, he's been living and working in Azzano in the Alta Versilia region of Italy near Pietrasanta.