Nawa Festival

The festival is dedicated to music and art by contemporary artists from North Africa and West Asia. It will take place for the 4th time in 2026. Beyond folklore, traditionalism, and ethnic boundaries, the Nawa Music & Film Festival offers a transcultural and interdisciplinary platform for contemporary art. Nawa is the abbreviation for North Africa & West Asia; in Arabic and Persian, nawa also means song, melody, or sound.

18.06 NAWA OPENING | 18:00 I at Theater Spektakel
19:00 Open Discussion - Practices of Togetherness: Between Alienation and Solidarity
20:30 Concert - Chabiba

19.06 | NAWA BELONGING | Porgy & Bess
17:00 - Workshop: Embodied Practices of Care in Times of Crisis. held by Golnar Shahyar & Marissa Lôbo
20:00 - Saïd Tichiti
20:45 - Ghetto Birds feat. Basma Jabr
22:00 - Sakina Teyna Septett - Album Presentation

20.06 | NAWA BECOMING | Porgy & Bess
20:00 - Bakr Khleifi
20:45 - Reflective Hold
22:00 - Kurdophone

21.06 I NAWA ORCHESTRA | Porgy & Bess
10:30 - Oud and Maqam Workshop. held by Bakr Khleifi
20:00 - Stage Lab by Alaa Alkurdi
20:00 Nawa Orchestra & guests

NAWA 2026 EXHIBITION | Porgy & Bess
Curated by Aftab Maher & Alaa Alkurdi

Alaa Alkurdi
https://www.alaaalkurdi.com
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/
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
https://iklimdogan.net
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
https://www.kwekuokokroko.com
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.