vita
Dr Carlos Idrobo, also known as Luca Idrobo, is a multidisciplinary scholar and artist based in Finland. As a scholar, he specialises in psychology, philosophy, and art history from the nineteenth century onwards, with a unique expertise on walking in arts, science, and culture. He has teaching and leadership experience at university level, and has been published his research in articles, books, and conference proceedings. He has also developed a decades-long artistic career. After training in classical guitar and singing, and being active in a university writing circle, he began working as an artistic photographer and writer, contributing to independent and collaborative art projects across Colombia, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and Finland. He works across mediums, primarily with photography, often paired with other artforms like drawing, creative writings (storytelling), and music. He tends to create in series that evolve over long periods. Currently, he splits his time working on curatorial projects, artistic work, research, singing in the Gospel choir Jospeli (Jokela, Tuusula), and being a family man. His hobbies include tennis, mountain biking, running, gardening, and construction work at home.
Curriculum Vitae
Since 2023
Independent Curator
Current Project: Jalan | On Foot. Serlachius Museums. Opening September 2026.
Since 2014
Independent Artist
Multidisciplinary. Photography, Drawing, Walking Art, Creative Writing, Music (Classical Guitar, Singing)
Currently, member of the Gospel choir Jospel (Jokelan Kotikirkko).
Tuusula, Finland
2021-2023
Postdoctoral Researcher
Leader, Project: Hermeneutics of Walking -Walking as Motif, Practice and Reception Strategy in Contemporary Arts, with special consideration of Finnish Art
Department of Art History, University of Turku
2020-2021
Postdoctoral Researcher
Group Project: Liikkuvuuden rajat – konkreettinen ja kuviteltu liikkuvuus pitkällä 1800-luvulla /
Mobility limits: concrete and imagined mobility in the long-nineteenth century
Department of History, University of Jyväskylä
2017
PhD in Art History
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald
Dissertation: 'Das, was von uns weggeht. Abwesenheit, Zeit und das Wandermotiv in der deutschen Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts' (magna cum laude)
English title: 'He who leaves us. Absence, Time, and the motif of the Wanderer in the German Art of the 19th-Century' (magna cum laude)
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck.
2010-11
Research Stay
Nietzsche-Kolloquium, Prof. Dr. Werner Stegmaier
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald
Project: 'Nietzsches Ökonomie und Dynamik der Tanzbewegung'
English title: 'Nietzsche's economics and dynamics of the dance movement'
2008
Master of Arts in Philosophy
Universidad de los Andes ⍿ Bogotá, Colombia
Master Thesis: 'Introducción a la lectura heideggeriana de la phrónesis aristotélica'
English title: 'Introduction to the Heideggerian lecture on the Aristotelian Phrónesis {practical wisdom}'
Supervisor: Carlos B. Gutiérrez
2004
Psychology
Universidad del Valle ⍿ Cali, Colombia
Thesis: 'Problemas en la construcción narrativa de la identidad' (meritoria)
English Title: 'Problems in the narrative construction of identity' (distinguished)
Supervisor: Anthony Sampson
1990-1997
Classical Guitar and Singing
Instituto Valdiri and private lessons by Maestro Miguel Bonachea⍿ Cali, Colombia
Scholarships / Distinctions / Awards
Postdoctoral Grant. Kone Foundation, Finland (09.2021-12.2023)
Postdoctoral Grant. Wihuri Foundation, Finland (10.2020-08.2021)
Article Grant. Dagmar ja Börje Söderholmin rahasto / Suomen valokuvatiateen museo (05.2020)
PhD Stipend. DAAD, Germany (11.2016 – 04.2017)
PhD Stipend. Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Germany (10.2013 – 09.2016)
Stipend. Trebuth Stiftung (09.2010-09.2011)
Magna Cum Laude, PhD Dissertation, Caspar-David-Friedrich-Institut, Universität Greifswald
Distinction as Best Student in Psychology (2004), Universidad del Valle
Distinguished Diploma Thesis in Psychology (2004), Universidad del Valle
Exhibitions / Art Projects
Unfinished Photography (2025). Photography & Drawing (Digital, Manual). Supported by the Municipality of Tuusula.
Stable Stories (2015-2025). Photography. Solo exhibition. Galleria Monio (Tuusula, Finland), 27 Jan – 12 Feb 2025. Supported by the Municipality of Tuusula. Promo video: https://youtu.be/w4r7W0X3oZw?si=ISyspwtoxi9Y6Soh
Love Letters to Walking Art and Science (photography, drawing, land art, performance, creative writing). Group exhibition: Walk with me, DRAW Space (Sydney, Australia), 28 Nov – 22 Dec 2024.
Porto Walks (drawings) & Walking Drawing Kinaesthetics between Art and Science (practice-sharing session). International conference ‘Drawing Across x Along x Between University Borders’ (16-18 October 2024, University of Porto, Portugal).
Walking Abstractions (Drawings), main curator and organiser, in collaboration with visual artist Kalle Lampela. Galleria Kopio | University of Lapland, Finland, 25.9–12.10.2023.
Grafía de un camino de bosque (Graphy of a forest path). Artistic contribution for a special edition of the online magazine Interartive. Dec. 2018
Wiederholung' (Repetition) (Abstract, Street und Nature Photography), 07.2016 – 06.2017
Exhibition at the Café Marell in the Pommersches Landesmuseum, Greifswald
Adrift. Collaborative work with Composer Leonardo Idrobo, for his composition Adrift (2015). Live performance with experimental photography. Ensemble Proton Bern. Musikfestival Bern, 09.09.2015, Dampfzentrale, Bern, Schweiz.
Verschmelzung (Fine Art Photography), 18.09 – 06.10.2013. Exhibition at the Kulturbar –Café & Atelier–, Greifswald.
body-no-body (Photography: Objects, Figures), 24.10 – 04.11.2012. Exhibition at the Kulturbar –Café & Atelier–, Greifswald
Photography equipment: Fujifilm camera bodies and lenses.
