Born January 16, 1943, in Vienna, is an Austrian photographer, action and object artist, and writer whose work bridges photography, performance, and text-based practices.

Cibulka grew up in Vienna’s Favoriten district and studied at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna from 1957 to 1961. From the mid-1960s onward, he was involved as a “passive participant” in actions by Rudolf Schwarzkogler and Hermann Nitsch, positioning him close to the circle of Viennese Actionism. Since the 1970s, he has worked as an independent artist.

His artistic practice includes photographic series, object images, and so-called “image poems,” often composed of four photographs combined with text. From the 1990s onward, he increasingly incorporated digital image processing and collage into his work. Cibulka has also produced lyrical and conceptual writings and frequently collaborates with other artists.

In addition to his own artistic output, Cibulka has played an important role in Austrian photographic culture. He co-founded the Austrian Photo Archive in 1982 and the FLUSS Lower Austria photo initiative in 1989, which he led until 2000. Since the 1980s, he has extensively documented the Orgien Mysterien Theater of Hermann Nitsch. Cibulka lives and works in Ladendorf, Lower Austria.

Reference
Biography text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), German edition. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Cibulka