Admission Examination Fine Arts 2026/27

This call has not yet started and is expected to be activated on Jan 21, 2026, 10:00am.
Deadline: Wednesday, Feb 11, 2026, 12:00pm

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna supports the application of people with disabilities and strives to create an admission examination as accessible as possible. Applicants may contact the responsible person, Christina Fasching in the Student Welcome Center with their questions: studentwelcome@akbild.ac.at.

The Admission Examination for the 2026/2027 academic year in Fine Arts consists of two parts.

Online-Registration and Part 1 of the admission examination, and the submission of work samples/portfolio-upload take place exclusively online via https://calls.akbild.ac.at/calls (details see “Online-Registration” and “Portfolio Upload” below). 
After a positive assessment of your work samples by the examination senate, part 2 of the admission examination for the Studio Group Painting will take place in person in Vienna (with the option of a digital examination via Zoom in exceptional cases, details see “Part 2” below). 
After positive assessment of your work samples by the examination senate, the 2nd part of the admission examination for the Studio groups Sculpture and Media will take place digitally.

We strongly recommend not to wait until the last day to register online and to upload the portfolio.
Please use the latest versions of Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

 

P A R T   1

Online Registration

21 January 2026, 10 h CET to 11 February 2026 at 12 h NOON CET

Registrations for the Admission examination via e-mail are excluded and will not be answered or considered.

The following data* must be used according to a valid passport as part of the online registration process. *(first and last name, date of birth, etc.)
The artist name [artistic pseudonym] can also be specified in the "Artist name" field, if desired. 
To specify the applicant's artistic self-assessment, one of the following three studio groups must be selected during online registration (multiple selections possible):

Painting: includes the studios Abstraction (Prof. Michaela Eichwald), Expansion (Prof. Daniel Richter), Graphics (Prof. Christian Schwarzwald), Figuration (Prof. Anna Schachinger), Context (Prof. Alice Creischer), Drawing (Prof. Veronika Dirnhofer)

Sculpture: includes the studios Spatial Strategies (Prof. Iman Issa), Public Sphere (Prof. Mona Hahn), Environment (Prof. Judith Huemer), Object (Prof. Julian Göthe), Installation (Prof. Nora Schultz)

Media: includes the studios Concept (Prof. Wendelien van Oldenborgh), Media (Prof. Constanze Ruhm), Film (Prof. Emily Wardill), Performance (Prof. Carola Dertnig), Video (Prof. Dorit Margreiter Choy), Photography (Prof. Agata Madejska)

Upon completion of a full and definite online application, all applicants will receive a confirmation email containing the registration number (please provide a valid/active email address and check your spam folder). 
Your registration number is essential for the further application process; please make a note of it.

 

Submission of digital work samples/portfolio upload

21 January 2026, 10 h CET to 11 February 2026, 12 h NOON CET at https://calls.akbild.ac.at/calls

  • The digital submission of work samples is only possible after successful online registration.
  • Portfolios can only be submitted digitally via upload. The registration and/or submission of work samples/portfolios by e-mail is excluded, as is the personal submission of physical portfolios/work samples, USB sticks or other data carriers.
  • Work samples/portfolios sent by e-mail will not be considered.

 

Requirements for digital portfolios

Please submit a portfolio in PDF-format with a maximum size of 50 MB.
Your name must be stated on the first page of the portfolio.
The portfolio must include a curriculum vitae.
Applicants are free to decide on the further content of the portfolio.

Links to videos/audio material must be included in the portfolio (links to clouds, YouTube, websites, etc.), if password protection is enabled, the password must be indicated. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that the links work. When using links, applicants must ensure that they work. Applicants will not be contacted if links are incorrect or faulty.

The file name of the portfolio file must be as follows: surname_first name
(example file name: Miller_Anne.pdf)

Recommendation for digital portfolios/work samples

The work samples serve as proof of the ability in autonomous artistic practice. 
Applicants are expected to submit independent artistic works that reveal specific interests, skills, motivations and working methods. 
The selection of works should be based on the applicant's own artistic working practice. It is recommended that works created at school or in various art courses should only be submitted if they support the applicant's artistic position.

Review of the submitted works by the examination senate from 13 February to 10 March 2026

Based on the artistic portfolios submitted, the examination senate decides which applicants will be invited to the entrance examination.

Announcement of the invited applicants

20 March 2026, from 13 h CET

All applicants will be notified by e-mail and the list of applicants invited to the admission examination will be published on the Academy's notice board.

 

 P A R T   2

Admission Examination via Zoom video conference for the Sculpture and Media studio groups.

The examination consists of an examination task and a personal interview with the professors and their staff. Possible interview contents include the artistic work created as part of the examination task, the submitted portfolio and the applicant's artistic practice. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes. The examination task and the personal interview date will be sent to applicants by e-mail on 5 May 2026, between 10 h and 16 h.

Interviews with the invited applicants will only take place digitally on the following days:

19 May 2026, between 9 h and 17 h CET
20 May 2026, between 9 h and 17 h CET
21 May 2026, between 9 h and 12 h CET

Please keep these days free for the interviews. Due to the high number of applicants, we cannot accommodate individual appointment requests. The interview will be held in German or English.

Admission examination with personal attendance for the Painting studio group.

The admission examination for the studio group Painting will take place on the following days

19 May 2026, between 9 h and 17 h CET
20 May 2026, between 9 h and 17 h CET
21 May 2026, between 9 h and 12 h CET

in the Mehrzwecksaal, 2nd floor, Atelierhaus location, Lehárgasse 8, 1060 Vienna.

The examination consists of an artistic examination task and personal discussions with the professors and staff of the Painting studio. 
The examination task will be sent in advance by e-mail on 5 May 2026, between 10 h and 16 h CET. 
In addition to the examination task, work samples from the submitted portfolio and working materials must be brought along. 
Possible interview topics include the artistic work created as part of the examination task, the submitted portfolio and the applicant's artistic practice. The interview will be held in German or English.

Attendance on site on the three examination days is mandatory. 

If applicants are unable to come to Vienna in person, this must be reported by 8 May 2026 12 h CET by e-mail to office_ibk@akbild.ac.at.
Exceptional reasons are for example rejected visa applications, health obstacles, financial issues or ecological concerns in connection with extensive air travel. In exceptional cases the admission test in person can be replaced by an admission test via Zoom video conference.

Applicants will be informed by e-mail and invited to the admission examination via Zoom video conference. The examination consists of an examination task and a personal interview with the professors and their staff. Possible interview topics include the artistic work created as part of the examination task, the submitted portfolio and the applicant's artistic practice. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes and will be held in German or English. 

Announcement of the final result

29 May 2026 from 13 h CET.

All applicants will be notified by e-mail about the results and the list of applicants admitted to study at the Academy of Fine Arts will be published on the Academy's noticeboard.

 

Contact
Institute for Fine Arts: office_ibk@akbild.ac.at
Student Welcome Center: studentwelcome@akbild.ac.at

E-mails with questions, the answer of which can already be found in the tender, will only be answered with reference to the info text on the website.

 

For further information please contact Institut Für Bildende Kunst (office_ibk@akbild.ac.at)

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