Anila Agha

Anila Agha joins UW–Madison as the Spring 2026 Visiting Artist through the International Visiting Artist Program (IVAP), presented by the Division of the Arts in partnership with the Design Studies Department and the Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture through the DS-CDMC Lecture Series, and with support from the International Division. 

Her residency runs March 15–19, 2026, hosted by Professor Jennifer Angus in Design Studies / Textile and Apparel Design. This short-term residency centers on Agha’s acclaimed sculptural practice exploring light, pattern, faith, and belonging through intricate laser-cut installations that merge traditional Islamic design with contemporary questions of visibility, identity, and displacement.

Throughout her visit, Agha will engage with UW students, faculty, and the public through lectures, class visits, textile collection explorations, and studio conversations around artmaking as a vehicle for cultural and social reflection.

Anila Agha is a multidisciplinary artist best known for her immersive light installations that interrogate cultural binaries of public and private, masculine and feminine, and sacred and secular space. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, and based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Agha holds an MFA from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the National College of Arts in Lahore.

Her artwork weaves together patterns drawn from Islamic geometry and South Asian craft traditions with Western architectural forms, transforming shadows and light into meditations on migration, gender, and spirituality.

Agha’s work has been exhibited at major museums and biennials including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Asia Society Texas Center, and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, and is held in institutional collections nationwide. She is the recipient of multiple honors including the 2019 Smithsonian Lucas Award, Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, and the 2014 ArtPrize Juried Grand Prize.

As artist-in-residence, Agha brings her global perspective to UW–Madison, inviting dialogue about how art can illuminate shared human experiences across cultures and geographies.

The Anila Agha International Visiting Artist Residency is presented by the UW–Madison Division of the Arts through the International Visiting Artist Program (IVAP), in partnership with the Center for Design and Material Culture (CDMC) and School of Human Ecology (SoHE), with major support from the International Division.