Fahima Akthar presents A Zenana Dialogue, an installation that explores the power, privacy and beauty of women’s spaces.

Vivid Projects are showcasing Fahima’s practice after selecting her work from the 2025 Birmingham School of Art degree show. Everyone is welcome to join us at the BRIG Cafe for the exhibition preview this Digbeth First Friday, 7 Nov from 6-8pm.

A Zenana Dialogue explores the concepts of Zenana, meaning “for the women” in Persian and Jaali, meaning “latticework” in Hindi. Originating from Persian and Mughal history, these concepts formed the architectural spaces that women (mostly those of the royal and upper classes) occupied. Zenana spaces allowed for privacy, luxury, and creativity to flourish. Fahima’s installation explores sites that are not open to the public eye and responds to the secrecy of these spaces. What they can or can’t look like and who decides those things?

Fahima Akthar is a multidisciplinary artist based in Birmingham. Her identity has driven her to explore the shared histories of South Asian and Islamic cultures and how others navigate between those spaces. She is interested in how cultures adapt to change, the new art forms that emerge from that interaction, and our perspectives on these changes. Her practice explores South Asian and Islamic cultural identities through pattern-making and large-scale installations. She uses materials such as wood, textiles, print, and paper. She enjoys exploring how patterns can translate to different surface structures and purposes. Her fascination with Islamic geometry has led her to explore the origins of patterns, the stories behind them, and the cultures they reflect.

Fahima has exhibited at: Sound Acts (2023) Eastside Projects; Taught by The Pen (2024) MIAH Foundation; Secret Show (2024) Secret Space (Digbeth) and Birmingham School of Art.