SHORT BIO

Aklima Iqbal is a visual artist from Narayanganj, Bangladesh, currently based in Vienna, Austria. 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 in Eugeniusza Gepperta, Wrocław, Poland, from 2016 to 2017. In 2024, she completed her studies in Art and Image | Context at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

 

Aklima’s work features drawing, painting, collage and sculpture, characterized by vibrant colours and surprising elements. She explores the construction and deconstruction of daily life forms, aiming to free them from ideological constraints. Her creations often blend absurd narratives and contexts, creating a tension between clarity and mystery, driven by a sensitive intuition and curiosity about human communication and behaviour. Her project “Fragments of Order in Chaos” delves into cultural adaptation and identity evolution, promoting identity freedom.

 

Notable achievements in her career include her participation in the 1st International Print Triennial in Cieszyn, Poland, titled “In Search of the Impossible,” where she was awarded the Dean of the Faculty of Arts Award. In 2021, she received the Fürger Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In 2022, she was nominated for the Stiftung Vordemberge-Gildewart award and exhibited at the nominees’ show at the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna (MUMOK). She also took part in the group show “Soft Machine,” a collaboration with the Austrian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, alongside artist Ashley Hans Scheirl and Jakob Lena Knebl and their students, organized by Phileas, Vienna, Austria. In 2023, Aklima was nominated for the Ö1 Talent Scholarship. Aklima’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, contributing to her growing recognition in the contemporary art scene.

Education:

2017 – 2024

• Contextual Painting, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

2016 – 2017

• Printmaking, The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland.

2012 – 2013

• Drawing & Painting, Master of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2008 – 2011

• Drawing & Painting, Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

Awards:

2021

 

• Fügerpreis, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

 

2017

 

• In Search of the Impossible, 1st International Print Triennial in Cieszyn, Poland.

DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS AWARD.

 

Nominated:

2024

• Academy Awards 2023/24 | Awards for graduates and students.

 

2023

• Ö1 Talent Scholarship 2023

 

2022

• The Stiftung Vordeberge-Gildewart award 2022, showed at the nominees exhibition at Museum of modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna (MUMOK), Vienna.

 

Diploma Exhibitions:

2024

• Fragments of order in chaos, Atelierhaus 2,OG, Lehargasse 6, Mehrzwecksaal, 1060 Wien, Academy of fine arts Vienna Austria.

 

Solo Exhibitions

 

2023

 

• Encounter, Duo Show,Galerie Kornjača Udruženje, Belgrad, Serbien.

 

• Questioning & searching the surreal, Red Carpet Showroom, Schottentor, Wien, Austria.

 

2020

 

• Dear Fish, online solo show, Art Collection Schlichtner, Vienna, Austria.

 

2017

 

• I have a plan, Gablota Przy Rektoracie, Wrocław, Poland.

 

Group Exhibitions:

 

2024

 

• All you have is not just flesh and bones, Exhibit Studio.
• Rundgang Exhibition-2024, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria.

 

 

2023

 

• des 80. GEBURTSTAGES VON HERWIG ZENS/ Kleine galerie,Vienna, Austria.
• Young art auction Exhibition-2023, Manner Villa, Vienna, Austria.
• Parrallel Vienna Otto Wagner Areal, Vienna, Austria.
• Collector’s Choice, Galerie Hilger Next, Vienna, Austria.
• Darkness 2, In the wood, Pater,Vienna, Austria.
• Boom Awakening, Stable Galerie , Wien, Austria.
• 1200 days of Art, Never at home, Wien, Austria.
• “who is we” Galerie Die forum, Wels, Austria.
• Carina´s choice auction Exhibition-2023, Floymca, Vienna, Austria.
• Female art auction Exhibition-2023, Floymca, Vienna, Austria.
• Rundgang Exhibition-2023, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria.
• Reflections of Shock, Kunstverein Kärnten, Klagenfurt. 2022 “New Beginnings”, Floymca, Vienna, Austria.

 

2022

 

• Die Menge der Dinge, Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna, Austria.
• “New Beginnings”, Floymca, Vienna, Austria.
• What are you looking at? Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna, Austria.
• Identitäten, Blau Gelbe Galerie St. Peter in der Au, Austria.
• Wiener Freiheit, galerie3, Klagenfurt, Austria.
• Parrallel Vienna Semmelweis Vienna, Austria.
• ‘Nominated’…STIFTUNG VORDEMBERGE-GILDEWART awards Exhibition, Mumok, Vienna, Austria.
• Soft Machine, a unique collaboration with the Austrian Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition La biennale di Venezia by Artist Ashley Hans Scheirl & Jakob Lena Knebl alongside their students. Phileas, Vienna, Austria.
• Rundgang Exhibition-2022, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria.

 

2021

 

• Parrallel Vienna Semmelweis Vienna, Austria.
• 21. SYMPOSIUM 2021, Cselley Mühle in Oslip, Austria.
• Darkness Project, In the wood, Pater,Vienna, Austria.
• The Hybrid Exhibition, Desiderio Gallery, Vienna, Austria.
• Grafik meets Contextual painting, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
• Real Stories (Question me & answer –Group show III), Das Moebel das Café, Vienna, Austria.
• 1st Yanjiao Biennial (Made in Mind,Series 2), online show, Beijing, China.

 

2020

 

• Light at the end of the tunnel, AA Collections Gallery, 2020, Vienna, Austria.
• Parrallel Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
• De|Real, online show, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Made in Mind, online show, Gallery Mcube, Nepal.
• Mixtsherz Exhibition, Artcare, Vienna, Austria
• Rundgang Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria.

 

2017

 

• Der [Kun:st] Preis 2017, Galerie Kerstan, Stuttgart, Germany.
• In Search of the Impossible, 1st International Print Triennial in Cieszyn, Poland.
• Conversations, Macondo Art Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland.
• Why Poland?, Galerie Mutant Letterpress, Wrocław, Poland.
• Memory of Death, Gallery of Contemporary art MD_S, Wrocław, Poland.
• Mirror,Mirror after all, Gallery of Contemporary art MD_S, Wrocław, Poland.

 

2012

 

• MOURN: Senses always make new sense (Process based show), Seven Senses (Compliment of Asian Biennale in Bangladesh), Dhaka Art Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Asian Art Biennale: 500mg, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

2010

 

• Annual Exhibition, Faculty of Fine Arts, Zainul Gallery, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Group Exhibition of Water Color, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

 

Residency Program:

 

2021

 

• 21. SYMPOSIUM 2021, eu-art-network, Cselley Mühle in Oslip, Austria.

 

Workshops

 

• • Anti-discriminatory communication-2018 By Perry Percy

Baumgartinger,Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.

 

• • Post-Digital Printmaking Workshop-2017 By Paul Catanese

(Associate Professors, Columbia college, Chicago US)

The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in

Wrocław, Poland.

 

• • Mentoring Session by Richard Noyce (Artist, Writer & critic)

from UK. The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design

in Wrocław, Poland.

 

• • Egg tempera workshop 2008 by eminent artist Shahid Kabir.

Zainul Gallery, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

• • Water Color Workshop 2009 by Hamiduzzman Khan, Dhaka.