NAWA 2026 EXHIBITION | Porgy & Bess
Curated by Aftab Maher & Alaa Alkurdi
Alaa Alkurdi
Mini plot, anti-plot, non-plot, and art film.
Alaa Alkurdi's approach to films favors minimalism, and reduced and compressed work invites interpretation.
Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, currently living and working in Vienna and Gothenburg.
Elham Hadian
https://www.elhamhadian.com/about
Elham Hadian is a contemporary multimedia artist whose practice explores the interrelation of memory, performativity, and political structures. Working primarily with video, photography, and installation, Hadian investigates how personal and collective memory shape identity and resistance, especially within the context of Iranian society. Her work is marked by a poetic visual language that unfolds through temporality, spatial composition, and subtle narrative gestures. The installative moment is central to her practice, offering immersive environments where viewers are invited to reflect on the tension between documentation and representation. Hadian is graduated from the Video and Video Installation class/ Prof Dorit Margreiter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Her rigorous academic and conceptual background grounds a practice committed to critical reflection and social relevance. Drawing on lived experience, Hadian consistently addresses systems of power, censorship, and memory, often linking them to broader questions of visibility, voice, and vulnerability.
Iklim Dogan
İklim Doğan (*TR, 1994) is an architect and artist based in Vienna. Her artistic and scientific work delves into architecture's historiography and historical materialism, juxtaposing different disciplines and discourses across mediums such as fabric, text, film, and installation.
She studied art, architecture, and philosophy, and researches, films, and embroiders on the concept of ruins. In January 2024, she graduated with distinction from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna – Institute for Art and Architecture. Her master’s thesis ruins talking back was awarded the ‘Academy Prize’ for the best graduation thesis of the year 2024. She has exhibited at venues such as das weisse haus, Wienmuseum MUSA Startgalerie, Kunsthalle Wien Skulpturenplatz, Weltmuseum Wien, Kunsthaus Muerz, Palais Liechtenstein, Exhibit Galerie, and Parallel Vienna; collaborated in performances at Werk-X and Brut Wien. Screenings at Diagonale and DocLisboa Film Festivals.
Alongside her individual practice, she is an experienced exhibition architect, having worked with institutions such as hdgö, Weltmuseum Wien and Wienmuseum. Additionally, as a skilled camerawoman, editor, and colorgrader she collaborates with other artists and filmmakers.
Kweku Okokroko
Kweku Okokroko is a Ghanaian painter and writer, born in 1999 in Accra, Ghana. He is currently studying at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria. His practice bridges multiple art forms, creating both diversity and unity. Combining literary, visual, and performative elements, his work uses language, form, and immersive atmospheres to communicate ideas and experiences.