Farila Neshat (*1994, Kabul) is a Vienna-based conceptual artist, global changer and founder of B.Ā.A.R. STUDIO: Building with Art, Architecture for Resilience. She holds a degree in fashion and textile technology, followed by a degree in graphic and communication design. In 2024, she completed a diploma in drawing and printmaking at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Neshat is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Bio-Resource Management at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU).
Her experiences of growing up in various regions of Central Asia, especially in her birthplace Kabul, as well as in Islamabad, Tashkent, Bishkek and Almaty, have led her to develop a deep intercultural sensitivity. Through these diverse experiences, she has gained insights into social dynamics and geopolitical realities, as well as into the complex interactions between culture, history and power structures. These influences are evident in her work, where she integrates diverse perspectives and current developments, and renders complex subjects accessible to a wide audience.
Neshat sees her artistic task as protecting cultures and histories from collective oblivion by using installation works, sculptures and conceptual practices in the international art sector. The interactions between people and their built environment are the driving force behind her work, with the social, cultural and emotional aspects of these themes. In her architectural installations and sculptures she explores the connection between space, memory and human identity, understanding spaces not just as functional environments, but as living witnesses to the daily movements and actions that shape our identities. She uses traditional construction methods to create sustainable works that go far beyond the purely physical.
She has held exhibitions and artist talks in Austria, Norway, Germany and Palestine. She is currently Artist in Residency in Vienna as part of the "Artist of Change Europe" program, which will take place in Bulgaria. During this residency, her artistic work will be announced in connection with the Climate Biennale in Vienna next spring 2026.
UNIVERSITY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND LIFE SCIENCES VIENNA (BOKU)
Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Bio-Resource Management
UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS VIENNA
Diploma Studies in Drawing & Printmaking
LINC1 - LINZ DESIGN COLLEG
Diploma in Graphic & Communication Design
HLMW9 MICHELBEURN VIENNA
Fashion & Production Technology with Graduation
MENTORING PROGRAM
Cultures in Movement, Role: Mentee, Vienna State Opera
HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINER
Amnesty International, Vienna
FREMDEWERDENFREUNDE
Mentoring Program, Role: Mentor, Vienna
TALENT & TALENT BERLIN
Mentoring Program, Role: Mentor, Vienna/Berlin
FAMILY MATTERS
Group exhibition, Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Long Day of Escape, Brotfabrik Cultural Center
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Angewandte Festival, Vienna
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Exhibition & Event, Kulturhaus Brotfabrik, Vienna
FRUITS & SEEDS
Group exhibition Bratislava Policy Institute, Bratislava
FRUITS & SEEDS
Group exhibition at the Folklore Museum, Vienna
CAN THE AFGHAN SPEAK?
Group exhibition Kunsthall 3.14, Bergen
MUSLIM CONTEMPORARY
Group exhibition in Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Vienna
TAMAMI ZABANHA BE DONBALE KHAANEI HASTAND
All language is a longing for home, Exhibition & Event, Garden of Encounter, Traiskirchen
INTERVIEW ABOUT MY EXHIBITION
NDR culture, art
FOR DANCING IN THE STREETS
Performance, art in Afghanistan as resistance, Graz
KINDHEIT(EN).VON ERINNERUNGEN IN DER KUNST
Group exhibition in Haus Coburg Gallery, Delmenhorst
ASYL KOORDINATION AUSTRIA
KARMA KABUL
Group exhibition in the Desiderio Gallerie 1010 Vienna
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE
Group exhibition, the Angewandte, Vienna
SOULKITCHEN
Group exhibition, Vienna
THE ESSENCE 2020 DIGITAL EDITION
Group exhibition, the Angewandte, Vienna
MOIETY
Digital group exhibition
IT'S FEEDING TIME
Group exhibition, Linz
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Artist, project management, management, Long Day of Escape, Kulturhaus Brotfabrik, Vienna
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Artist, project leader, management, Applied Festival, Vienna
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN*
Javaneh Association project management, management, performance, installation, Tangente, St. Pölten
GEFLOCHTENE REALITÄTEN
Artist, project management, management, Kulturhaus Brotfabrik, Vienna
AMRO FESTIVAL 2024
Javaneh Association, Installation & Video, Linz
FRUITS & SEEDS
Javaneh Verein, Tales of the Revulution, Volkskundemuseum, Vienna
NOWRUZ
Javaneh Association, Mehmooni, Kulturhaus Brotfabrik, Vienna
MUSLIM CONTEMPORARY, MEHMOONI
Javaneh Association, MDW, Vienna
TAMAMI ZABANHA BE DONBALE KHAANEI HASTAND
All language is a longing for home, Artist, project management, management, Garden of Encounter, Traiskirchen
AFGHAN VINYL RECORDS
Curator, graphics, Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg
MEHMOONI
Javaneh Association, University of Applied Arts, Vienna
MEHMOONI
Javaneh Association, University of Applied Arts, Vienna
CULTURE TRANSFORMATION MOVEMENT
Independent Cultural Initiative, Vienna