Kiba Lumberg (b. 1956, Lappeenranta, Finland) is a pioneering Finnish Romani multimedia artist, author, and human rights activist whose work stands as a vital pillar of contemporary cultural resistance and queer identity. Based in Helsinki, her extensive body of work spans painting, performance, installation, comic art, and literature. Born into a traditional Finnish Kaale family, Lumberg made the radical decision to flee her home at age thirteen to escape strictly enforced, submissive gender roles. Her lived experiences as a Romani woman and an openly lesbian artist heavily inform her raw, emotionally charged visual style, which simultaneously confronts institutionalized anti-Gypsyism in European society and challenges internal patriarchal boundaries, domestic violence, and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.
Beyond the canvas, Lumberg fundamentally reshaped Nordic public discourse in 1997 as the screenwriter for Tumma ja hehkuva veri (Dark and Glowing Blood), a landmark Finnish television mini-series exposing the hidden struggles of Romani women. She is also the author of the celebrated, autobiographical Memesa Trilogy, which details an individual’s relentless fight for self-determination. After training at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Lumberg achieved a historic milestone in 2007 when her striking installation Black Butterfly served as a centerpiece for the first-ever Roma Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
EIGENBILD — Kai Dikhas Foundation, Berlin, DE
KESYTÖN – Gallery Pirkko-Liisa Topelius, Helsinki, FI
Roma Women Weaving Europe – ERIAC & Romanian Cultural Institute, Berlin, DE
The Book Lovers / Artist Novels – M HKA & diverse Institutions , BE
Roma Pavilion: Call the Witness – 54. Venice Biennale, IT
Roma Pavilion: Paradise Lost – 52. Venice Biennale , IT
Black Butterfly – Pori Art Museum, FI
