MariyamMalik is a social researcher and art educator with an interest in collaborative spaces of imagining and creating. Growing up as a child of Pakistani migrants in a Gemeindebau in Floridsdorf, they developed a love for Punjabi and Urdu music. They studied Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Vienna and researchededucation, empowerment, intersectionality,and participatory methods. As a result of studying in white educational institutions, they felt the desire to learn from decolonial, queerfeminist, Black, Indigenous,and of color perspectives, so they created the Instagram account @education.for.us.

In the program of Art Education at the Academy of Fine Arts, they engage with different materials such as ceramics, paper, textiles,and printing techniques.

Over the past year, they explored the topic of mental health and recovery and how we can envision it outside of capitalistic logics. For the fellowship, they are part of the Kultursommer Plus team which is responsible for the outreach program during the open-air festival. Currently, they are interested in creating artistic spaces that acknowledge the continuity of queer/feminist and anti-racistresistance, askquestions of desirable futures,and allow them to engage with art in a self-reflective, and dreamy way.