Date: September 12
Time: 19:00 – 20:30
Opening Ceremony & ‘Costumes of the World’
Location: Wiener Börsensäle, Wipplingerstraße 34, 1010 Vienna
Opening Ceremony
The fifth edition of ICDO’s public, annual festival under UNESCO patronage was opened with a spectacular ‘Costumes of the World’ show in a stunning display of more than 130 handcrafted, traditional costumes from 28 countries around the world!
Großer Festsaal Börsensäle Wien was buzzing at the Opening Ceremony & “ICDO’s Costumes of the World” on September 12th. As mighty and majestic as the venue is, it was almost too small to host hundreds of guests who came to appreciate the diverse representation of culture and spectacular “Costumes of the World” that showcased a stunning display of 130+ costumes from 28 countries.
Our returning moderator, Philipp Gruell, guided the guests throughout the three hour event, a number that doesn’t quite give justice to the length and complexity of the evening and the show. Alongside traditional dance performances from the Philippines and Polynesia, the night emphasized the importance of safeguarding diversity and presented Vienna’s multiculturalism by celebrating culture in the traditional and historical Börsensäle.
Mag. Josipa Palac – ICDO President and Founder opened the fifth edition of the festival:
I am proud that this concept of Long Nights of Interculturality is recognized by more than 40 embassies, 20 cultural institutes and no event would be complete without proud individuals that want to represent their own culture & countries, therefore this year we have 40 countries and cultures participating at the festival, said Ms. Palac
Attendees enjoyed dance performances by our long-term partners, the VIC Group of Polynesian Friends, ENFiD-Austria and Folklorico Filipino. VIC Group of Polynesian Friends commemorated the night with two dances, “Amui Maeva”, a song from French Polynesia, and, “Pate Pate”, a Samoan dance full of vibrance, that calls for the attention of the people, their loved ones, and their friends to join altogether in a festivity. ENFiD-Austria and Folklorico Filipino closed the ceremony with a Kaamulan Dance that promotes cultural preservation and historical recognition of the 7 tribes of Bukidnon, Philippines.
A surprise of the night was the announcement of the 2022 ICDO Excellence Award recipient, a committed individual working towards the betterment of our society. ICDO Founders, Ms Palac and Mr Pehar presented this year’s recipient, Ms. Barbara Trionfi – Executive Director at the International Press Institute.
After thanking ICDO for choosing her as the recipient of the ICDO Annual Excellence Award, Ms. Trionfi highlighted how honored and humbled she is, and added that media is extremely important in peacebuilding.
Dialogue between journalists would promote peace around the world and prevent the world from seeing horrors that we saw during WWII.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Embassies of: Azerbaijan, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Colombia, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Indonesia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Palestine, Peru, and Philippines. In addition to our wonderful partnered embassies, we would also like to extend a special thanks to the Yunus Emre Institute in Vienna, Azerbaijan Cultural Center, KultEurasia, Slovak Institute in Vienna, AKIS – Afghan Cultural Association in Austria, VIC Art Club, in Austria, VIC Group of Polynesian Friends, ENFiD, Folklorico Filipino, FA Sokadija, FS Marjanka, Ameyalli Dancing Group, Shivanata Tanzgruppe, Raices Peruanas, Nartakah Dancing Academy and KUD Kulin Ban, Africa Gala Vienna, and TUMA – a Ukrainian Youth Association. Heartfelt thanks are also extended to Restaurant “Kornat”, for providing refreshments and making this night a little bit bubblier.
