Aklima Iqbal and Art Collection Schlichtner - Interview, 03.10.2020

Fotocredit: Photo by Art Collection Schlichtner

Aklima Iqbal and Art Collection Schlichtner - Interview, 03.10.2020

Andreas: „Hello everybody, I want to introduce ourselves. My name is Andreas Schlichtner from Art Collection Schlichtner and I am an art collector from Vienna. I collect art from Austrian artists and Austrian related art. And I frequently meet artists on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and this time I met Aklima Iqbal. And she is a painter from Bangladesh and I met her on Instagram and today we are making an interview. We will talk about her art and how everything started in her career. Today we already made a photo shooting which was very successful and was great fun. And so we continue with the interview. Aklima, I have a lot of questions! We are right now sitting in the Academy of fine arts in Vienna and this is your studio. We see some paintings on the wall, you recently made for the next show. How did everything start in your artistic career, you come from Bangladesh, you have parents, famliy, was your mother, your father a painter or musician or was the house you were raised in full with art? And how did everything start!?”

Aklima: “Ok, thank you so much for this invitation and make me like be in an interview. I am super happy to share my ideas and my journey. And it is not like that my family is from artist background and like this. My father is a businessman and my mother is a homemaker, they are not about art but they always influenced me that whatever I want to do, I can do. And I started doing art from my childhood and when I was 8 years old. And before I did music and I was super shy in front of people and suddenly at one time it happened that I am in a concert, I was a singer, I was singing, and  everyone is clapping and suddenly I forget every lyrics and everything and then I decided, ok,  that is not for me, I should start paint.  So I do not have to talk in front of people and like this, I just paint and share my experience and thoughts on my paintings. So was the start.”

Andreas: “So you were very young when you started with the age of 8 years. Do you remember, maybe, how your first painting looked like, do you remember?”

Aklima: “Yah! You know like in our school we had to do art and I professionally learnd how to draw because I lived in a small city and we had an artist school there, like an art academy and I learned from there, I started learning how to draw. How to draw a figure. From that I started.”

Andreas: “So it was good that you found some support right from the beginning. Because then, when you were a little bit older, you decicdd to go to the Acedemy in Bangladesh and there you also have something to tell us! What did you paint there? What did you learn in the Academy in Bangladesh?”

Aklima: “I started Academy in 2007. Our Academy is totally a traditional Academy, so like four years bachelor program we have to do learn the craftmanship, like whatever you were seeing, the figure, the model, the still life, landscape, like in watercolour and oil. So I keep like six years with that and I learned how to make a realistic painting. And then after this degree we  started Masters, like a two years programme and at that time we started experimenting with our thought and experience.”

Andreas: “Ok! So you learned your skills and then you had some freedom. Can you tell me about your wish to be an artist, did you have an idea to have an art life, how it could look like and what was your expectation about to be an artist, how life looks like of an artist, was this fascinating for you  and the reason to become an artist?”

Aklima: “Yah! Like from my childhood I never want to be like a doctor, an engineer, like in our country everyone, every parents want, my sister, my parents, daughter, should be a doctor or engineer or something like this. I don´t wanna be like that. I do not know. But I saw that artists have total freedom, like they have a free life, they have a own studio, they paint, no one asks, no 9 to 6 work, they can spend the whole night in the studio, so I like this freedom. So, that is why I came here.”

Andreas: “And what was the next step, you then decided to come to Europe?”

Aklima: “The thing is, like after doing my masters in Bangladesh I did 2 years like a job as a graphic designer and game artist. In our country we have not lots of opportunities for us (artists). So I decided to come to Europe to introduce me, my country and like this. So then I applied and before I learned German like one and a half years and came. I would like to come like Germans before, because lots of artists from Germany I like a lot, that´s why. And then I got chance in Poland, I came to Poland in 2016, I did one year masters in printmaking department and then I applied here and I came to the Academy and it was four days exam and I met so many people, crazy artists and I was super-happy and ok this is the thing that I want in my life.”

Andreas: “And who is your professor here in the Academy?”

Aklima: “Ashley Hans Scheirl.”

Andreas: “Aha, ok, great, very famous person”

Aklima: “She is super-supportive and super-friendly and I like her a lot.”

Andreas: “And about your art you currently make: What fascinates you, what is the main topic or do you have a main topic or is it a variety of topics you paint? Do you also make other things instead of paintings, objects or sculptures also?”

Aklima: “Yes, I am not, I do not  wanna be a taglined like you are a painter or something like this.  I always experiment with media. Media is not for me like something you have to do in a frame, or. I always do a lot of things. I do photography, I paint a lot, I draw a lot and also recently I am making a sculpture from my drawing and I want to see how it looks like in 3D format. So I make a sculpture. And also I plan a video. And I am planning to make a performance but I am not sure. And I am also since form last 3 or 4 years visually writing, my thoughts, like mapping my thoughts. So this is my thing. And when I came to Poland I struggled with the language. So at that time I was thinking like why we need a language, why we use. I cannot communicate with them and like this. At that time I suddenly felt absurd. From that time  I started doing absurd things, like I always are planning to make a language. Like an own, like there is no alphabet, nothing but you can perform and there is no meaning and that is why I am also writing poem, absurd poem. I do not know, like how I can show you later how many years, I do not know,  I am planning to do that.”

Andreas: “Right!. And as we met on Instagram, because I saw some of your paintings – I was fascinated about them and I did not wait for long and directly got in contact with you and I wrote a messege to you: if you are interested to meet and that you can show me your artworks and that we maybe can make a presentation together. And this is how everything started with our cooperation. And that is why I want to ask how important are Social Media for you and if Social Media like Instagram and Facebook have any influence on your art maybe.”

Aklima: “The thing is like previously I don´t want to share my artworks in like Instagram and Facebook because I don´t thing that this is a place for me but suddenly while Corona situation and lockdown I start thinking about, ok, because I do everyday work, it is  like a meditation for me and it is like an art therapy for me. So I always work as like I saw a movie, I wrote it down, I draw and paint like, you know, like this I started doing for this Corona time, for this lockdown, everyday I draw what influences me, what I learn, what consciously and subconsciously is on my mind I would like to share on Instagram everyday – one drawing with this memory. So I work with memory and also I am a dreamer like I dream, like a dreamer or sometimes I want to dream, I am seeing a dream on a dream, something like this. So all the time I want to keep the memory. At that time I thought Instagram is a perfect place, ok s let´s start on that.  So it´s really really great that I met with you, and a lots of galleries, a lots of artists, contemporary artists who I know not, I can talk and see the work I can appreciate, this is really a great opportunity for young artists to introduce them.”

Andreas: “So it´s good to present oneself and to see what other artists do and to learn and to present. I also think so and I also appreciate these platforms and use them like you say. Yes and we will have opportunity to see some of your most recent paintings in the next  upcoming show on our website and we will also post some drawings of your diaries on Instagram and Facebook and so it is an opportunity to make our fan-base bigger then ist was before. And it was really a pleasure to meet you here in the academy and to make the photo shooting, to select all the artworks, to make this interview and we are happy to have the presentation soon. And in the meantime thank you for listening and watching, have a good time. Aklima, all the best to you and we keep in touch.”

Aklima: “And thank you so much for your time and you did a lot for me and I am super happy and grateful to you, thank you so much.”

Andreas: “Yes art is a lot of work, not only fun, it is hard work and we see it how much time it consumes when we prepare everything. But it makes a lot of fun.”

Aklima: “Yes we are looking forward for the show and this exiting exhibition.”

Andreas: “So thank you very much. Bye bye. Have a good time”.