About Julia Surba:

"Da bleibt mir glatt der Mund offen... Die sibirische Kuenstlerin entfuehrt uns in eine tribal-aehnliche Welt voller uralt wirkender Hieroglyphen und Muster. Mit einem Brennpeter zusammen mit Schnitztechniken erfindet sie das, was ich mir unter moderner Mystik vorstelle: zeitlos erdige Kunst".
Thorralf, Germany

"What I thought when I saw Julia Surba's work was that it was original. I can see an influence of Mayan, African, and Tribal......but, really it is her own twist. I think she started a new category of her own and one day students like me will be studying her style".
Archeologist April, USA

Last Exhibitions:

• Festival " Karma-free Zone", Siberia 2003
  
• Exhibition "Culture of Ancient Kuzhebar",
  Siberia 2003
  
• Exhibition "Schamanistic Worlds of Ancient Kuzhebar", Gallery "Kunstreich am Pergamonmuseum", Berlin (Germany) 2004
  
• Exhibition in "Orome"- centre, Berlin (Germany) 2005
  
• Exhibition "Schamanistic Worlds of Ancient Kuzhebar ", Gallery "Kunstreich am

  Pergamonmuseum", Berlin (Germany) 2005
  
• Exhibition by "Musicora", Carrousel du Louvre, Paris (France) 2006
  
• Exhibition "Schamanism of Siberia in the modern art", art&culture festival "48 Stunden Neukoelln", Berlin (Germany) 2006
• Exhibition "Querschnitt Format", Im Bethanien, Berlin (Germany) 2006
• Art on stage in L`urbangi art room, Berlin (Germany) 2006
  
• Exhibition by "Markt der Kontinente", Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) 2006
• Exhibition "Unknown Ancestors", art&culture festival "48 Stunden Neukoelln", Berlin (Germany) 2007
• Exhibition by "Markt der Kontinente", Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) 2007
• Exhibition by "Markt der Kontinente", Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) 2008
• Exhibition at international ethnic festival "Krutushka", Kazan 2009
• Exhibition at international ethnic festival "Four Elements. Etnica", Moscow 2010
• Travel-Exhibition during her tour in Russland together with V.Nadishana with the programm "Shuol Khymat", 2010
• Exhibition by "Markt der Kontinente", Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) 2010
• Participation at the exhibition "Artful Henna", Seattle, USA 2010

Julia Surba is a gifted siberian artist and designer. The artistic directions of Julia are pyrography, design for music instruments, design for ethnic style jewelry, fashion design, henna art, performance and shadow theater.

Her first serious creative project Julia started at the age of 10. It was a puppet theater, which she had organized with her friends. Thank to her parents, who presented her a pyro-tool, she discovered at the same time pyrography* .

In 1988 she started to study different folk paintings arts: khokhloma (ancient traditional Russian wood painting), zhostovo (an old Russian folk painting on metal), palekh (Russian folk miniature painting). At the same time she also experimented with wood & flowers collages.
Later during her study the world art history at the university she was amazed by ancient cultures of the world: Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece etc..

Inspired by art and mythology of ancient and tribal cultures, and collecting impressions during her travellings in Siberia and getting in touch with siberian local cultures: Tuva, Khakassia, Kuzhebar and Tofalar, Julia came back to pyrography but on a different level. She has developed her own "background" or "invert" technique, where burned patterns in combination with carvings build expressive relief pictures in Tribal Art style.

Most of her artwork Julia is creating being inspired by unique mytology of Ancient Kuzhebar people. Through her art she tries to keep this almost disappeared culture alive.

Julia Surba is a member of the International Association of Pyrographic Artists (IAPA). Her works were exhibited in Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and USA. Some of her works are in a spanish museum of traditional instruments that has been created by a musician Paco Diez, some in the international online museum for pyrographic art and in privat collections in USA, Germany, France, Russia and Switzerland.

Since 2004 Julia lives and works in Berlin (Germany). Here in 2005 she set up the "Kuzhebar-Design" studio, which is specialized in pyrography-design, developing of logos and CD-covers, fashion-design and kuaamu (ethnic style jewelry).

*Pyrography or art of fire (from Greek pyros = fire) or Wood Burning Art is the art of burning an image onto a surface: wood, paper or leather. It was popular in many ancient cultures of Australia, Afrika, Amerika, Ancient Kuzhebar and Europe.