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Six outstanding art graduates receive A⁴ – Austrian Art Alumni Award 2025

To the press statement

This year, the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research (BMFWF) and the art universities awarded a new scholarship to young artists. We warmly congratulate Anahita Asadifar, who works at the Academy, and Elena Kristofor, who is one of our graduates, on their awards!

On Monday, October 13, 2025, the award was presented in a festive setting at the mdw University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna by Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner in the presence of the rectors of all six art universities. The winners of the first A4 – Austrian Art Alumni Award impressed with their creativity, the diversity of their forms of expression, and the topicality of the themes they addressed in their art projects: War, loss, solidarity, and nature are portrayed and addressed through dance, music, (audio-)visual art, or theater. Equally impressive were the work projects that the award winners will implement over the next twelve months as part of a scholarship. One thing is already clear: The A4 – Austrian Art Alumni Award will significantly promote and support their artistic development.


The winners of the first A4 – Austrian Art Alumni Award 2025 are:

  • Anna Arkushyna for "Unnatural Selection for Ensemble and Electronics"
  • Anahita Asadifar for "Tracking Our Way Through Time"
  • Paul Takuda Chiwona for "Underwaterbodies"
  • Elena Kristofor for an investigation into the inscriptions of war in Ukrainian natural landscapes / Liminal spaces of destruction and memory
  • Marlene Muthspiel for "frei.sein (Ensemble nilena)"
  • Alek Niemiro for "Last Hour of Resistance"

Starting this year, the A4 – Austrian Art Alumni Award will be presented annually to selected, outstanding graduates of Austrian universities of the arts. The award includes a twelve-month scholarship of €24,000 each, which is intended to enable the recipients to realize art projects in Austria and abroad. The award is a cooperation between the public art universities and the Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research.