ICDO President Josipa Palac and ICDO Advisor and professor Dr. Anthony Löwstedt had their research paper “Media and Other Biocultural Diversities” published as the first chapter in an Innsbruck University Press volume
One the 26th of January 2020, ICDO hosted Gala Dinner in Casa Xixim in Tulum, as part of the first phase of the Maya Voice project in Mexico
During the first phase of the Maya Voice project, ICDO team has conducted more than 80 interviews with participants from more than 20 different indigenous Maya communities in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Playa del Carmen, 24 January 2020 - On the 24th of January 2020, as a part of ICDO’s ‘Kalan Je La’an: Following the Maya Voice', ICDO presented at the Teatro de la Ciudad Solidarid the product of ICDO art workshops - an art installation created by 33 Maya youth together with ICDO’s Art Director Iva Pehar. The Art Installation reveals the cultural values in its symbolism and synergy of the traditional and the contemporary. ICDO collaborated with the Maya youth in an interchange of skills and cultures, where art became...
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José María Morelos, 15.-19. January - The mesmerizing story of Maya beliefs, language, traditions, cosmology and visions of the future is incorporated into the art installation, which was created by 33 Maya youth from 16 different communities together with ICDO Art Director Iva Pehar during ICDO Art Workshops.. ‘Kalan Je La’an: Following the Maya Voice’ Art Installation represents a symbiosis of traditional and contemporary, which complement each other in a sustainable synergy. Every pair of hands brought a piece of their community, beliefs, dreams, plans for the future and messages...
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ICDO President Josipa Palac, ICDO Treasury Toni Pehar and UIMQRoo rector Rafael Pantoja Sanchez signed the official memorandum for the cooperation on ‘Kalan Je La’an: Following the Maya Voice project.
On the 15th of January, the Mayor of Playa del Carmen, Mrs. Laura Beristain Navarrete, officially announced the cooperation with ICDO on ‘Kalan Je La’an: Following the Maya Voice’ project.
La Linea Negra: Photo Exhibition and Panel Discussion ICDO hosted the talk “The Black Line: Sacred Landscapes from La Sierra Nevada Santa Marta - Colombia” in collaboration with The Colombian Embassy and Weltmuseum Wien on November 16th, 2019 in Vienna, Austria. The aim of the event was to gather non-indigenous society to listen to the message about protecting nature and our planet, transmitted by mamos, indigenous spiritual priests from Colombia. The panel discussion featured: Coque Gamboa, photographer Andrea Altemüller, photographer Katharina Heigl, photographer Josipa Palac, ICDO President Moderated by Claudia Augustat,...
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By Viktoria Strejc What is beauty? Have you ever thought about how extremely specific beauty perceptions are to cultures? Today I’m going to take you on a “different” kind of beauty journey. Have you ever heard about the Mursi tribe? They live in Omo Valley, an isolated region in Ethiopia. They are one of the last tribes that still wear traditional clothing and accessories. Mursi women are famous for their wooden lip plates - a symbol of beauty and identity. A girl’s lower lip is cut (sometimes by her mother)...
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By Viktoria Strejc In April 2019 ICDO executed the next phase of the project ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina’. Here’s a look behind the scenes of the project. Thursday, April 4, 6:00 am - it was way too early to be awake, but the ICDO team members were boarding the bus to Zagreb. We were all so excited about our time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally getting to meet the participants. For most of us, it was our very first time there. The ICDO team on the way to Zagreb. When...
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by Isidora Colic Have you ever asked yourself how often you hear “typical” being applied to a group, community, ethnicity, or country? If you ask me, I think we like to generalize things too often. If you look in the dictionary under “S”, you will find the definition of “stereotype”: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. When we discuss beauty, we often tend to stereotype it, too, according to the standards imposed by the media or the fashion...
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Aboriginal mother. © nopathology.com A Vietnamese proverb runs, “Birth is the door of the tomb.” A mother and her baby are most vulnerable during childbirth. The magic of modern medicine has made childbirth a relatively safe procedure in most developed countries, but many continue to take it for granted. Childbirth is no picnic. It can be a painful, messy, and stressful procedure. Children and their mothers in many sub-Saharan African countries are still at a high risk of death from childbirth complications. Many Central and Southeast Asian countries, as well...
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All things must come to an end, even good things. The 2019 Long Nights of Interculturality wound down - or rather, reached even greater heights - with the Closing Ceremony at the Wiener Börsensäle on September 6. In addition to speeches from our President Josipa Palac, opportunities for cultural networking, and delicious food brought by our partners, the highlight of the evening was ICDO’s “Costumes of the World” exhibition. It was an inspiring show of more than 160 national and traditional costumes, some handcrafted, from 60 different cultures. Ending the...
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Speaking about “women’s issues” seems to be a crowd gatherer these days, and many think all has been said. But it is obvious that all hasn’t been said and done, because women still lack opportunities when compared to men, they don’t have enough representation and more often than not, are not included in the growth story. ICDO, headed by women, thought it was but natural that a weeklong celebration of interculturality couldn’t go by without discussing diversity and inclusion of women in the society. Held on 4th September 2019 in...
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On the second day of “The Long Nights of Interculturality 2019”, guests were able to enjoy art, dance, and a food tasting session at an evening dedicated to the Azerbaijani culture held at the Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Vienna, which was inaugurated by Ms. Leyla Gasimova, the head of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center and Ms. Josipa Palac, President of ICDO, who both emphasized the value of contributing to projects like the Long Nights. The Azerbaijan State Dance Ensemble flew in from Baku to perform national Azerbaijani dances, such as Qarabagh,...
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Have you ever seen a dancer execute an elegant turn while balancing a candelabra on her head? Or keep a ceramic plate safe in the palm of his hand while he spins it at a speed of a tornado? Have you ever seen a rainbow move to the sound of trumpets? You haven't? Well, too bad! Had you come to the Opening Ceremony of ICDO's The Long Nights of Interculturality, you would have seen all this – and more! Performers from more than 30 countries came to show off their...
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By Elena Ruzic Diversity is an intersectional issue, covering multiple areas of society. To champion and safeguard diversity is to amplify the voices of marginalized groups - people excluded because of their differences from what is considered “normal” (ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual and romantic orientation, economic status, etc.). ICDO’s mission is to foster change in the current social landscape, so that we can move towards a diverse and inclusive society. We are part of the #SKINCLUSION campaign because it is a forerunner of that change. By showing via research that...
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