M HKA Ensembles

° 1956

Lives in Helsinki (Finland).

Kiba Lumberg is an artist who lives and works in Helsinki. She moved away from her family and cut off ties with Romani community at the age of 13. She has a private gallery in Kallio, Helsinki, which is working and exhibition space. Lumberg has written a Finnish TV series Dark and glowing blood (Tumma ja hehkuva veri) in 1997-1998 and a theater play of the same name, which was in Varkaus Theater repertoire in 2004. Lumberg’s first novel Black Butterfly attracted wide attention when it first appeared in 2004, and in the fall of 2006 the story was continued with an independent sequel, Tattered wings. In autumn 2008, trilogy was completed with Velvet night.

Lumberg studied at the Helsinki University of Art, in a course intended for Romani people during 1983–1985 and was also an additional student in the University of Art in 1985–1987. She has studied short periods of time abroad in college Sutorits (former Yugoslavia), University of Art in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia and the College of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. She has also studied singing in 1979-1981 at the Helsinki Conservatory.

Lumberg took part in the 2007 Finnish parliamentary elections, as a Left Alliance candidate, and in EU elections in 2009. Lumberg has lectured for example in Venice, Italy, and several universities in Finland and also in the Parliament house in Helsinki. Besides writing and fine arts, Lumberg’s diverse artistic activities have included design and implementation of performances, composing, documentary videos and comic books. She has held over twenty solo exhibitions all over the Finland and she has had works for example in Venice Biennale in Italy and Rome Art pavilion in Paris, Prague and Brussels.