Intercultural Initiatives
Iranian Culture House
House of the Book
The Iranian Culture House was founded 18 years ago and today is an independent association. Its space on the second floor of staircase 2 is a meeting point primarily for young people of Persian origin. There is a diverse programme of cultural activities.
The centre of attention is an ever-growing Persian library (Khaneh-E-Ketab), where not only books and magazines, but also tapes, CDs, videos and DVDs are made available to the Persian community in Vienna. The media can be borrowed and in some cases also purchased.
Our objective is to promote a democratic process between opposed groups and thereby create a counterweight to fundamentalism. At the same time, solidarity with other international groups is striven for in order to work against xenophobia in Austria. Every month there are discussion rounds on current issues (such as the problems Iranians have finding work, labour laws for foreigners, asylum laws). There is also a separate women’s group for dealing with themes specific to women. Slideshows, films and music events complement the cultural programme of this Persian cultural centre, which is open for people of Persian origin, especially second and third generation migrants.