Aklima Iqbal
Aklima Iqbal, born in 1989 in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, currently lives and works in Vienna. She completed her postgraduate studies in drawing and painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, and furthered her education in printmaking at the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im Eugeniusza Gepperta in Wrocław, Poland, from 2016 to 2017. In 2024, she completed her studies in Art and Image | Context at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Aklima Iqbal's work includes drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture, characterized by vibrant colors and surprising elements. She explores the construction and deconstruction of everyday forms with the aim of freeing them from ideological constraints. Her works often blend absurd narratives and contexts, creating a tension between clarity and mystery, driven by a sensitive intuition and curiosity about human communication and behavior. Her project Fragments of Order in Chaos deals with cultural adaptation and identity evolution, promoting identity freedom.
Notable achievements in her career include participating in the 1st International Print Triennial in Cieszyn, Poland, titled In Search of the Impossible, where she received the Dean’s Award of the Faculty of Arts. In 2021, she received the Füger Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In 2022, she was nominated for the Stiftung Vordemberge-Gildewart Prize and exhibited her work in the nominees' show at the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna (mumok). She also participated in the group exhibition Soft Machine, a collaboration with the Austrian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, alongside artists Ashley Hans Scheirl and Jakob Lena Knebl and their students, organized by Phileas. In 2023, she was nominated for the Ö1 Talent Scholarship. Aklima Iqbal’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, contributing to her growing recognition in the contemporary art scene.