Afro-Asian Institute (AAI) Vienna

A place for encounter with a different religions and cultures

Initiators
Foundation of the Afro-Asian Institute (AAI) in Vienna was suggested by Dr Margarete Ottilinger and realized by Cardinal Dr Franz König. The Institute was managed by a board of trustees, then, Dr Ottillinger, P. Heinrich Hansen SVD and Heinrich Pozniak ( Managing Director). Minister of Education Heinrich Drimmel was responsible for the advisory board.

Occasion
After WWII, when reconstruction had been completed, many Austrians became interested in Africa, Asia and Latin America ‒ the Global South. Interest in the art, culture and religions began to develop. Nations of the area were to be economically supported. The Afro-Asian Institute was to provide a place in Vienna that took these interests into account. The AAI was established as a space for encounter where students from different countries could meet. Spaces of prayer and worship were installed for students to practice their religion. The Muslim prayer room was established in the early 1960s, the Hindu temple in 1980. The chapel had already existed. For a long time, the AAI continued to be one of the most important places for interreligious dialogue in Austria.

Target Groups
The AAI had been created for students from all over the world but mainly from Africa, Asia and Latin America as a space of encounter and communication.

Objectives
The aim of the initiative was to establish a development policy education house with the mission to promote, initiate and accompany dialogue between people from different cultures and religions. A space was created where students could live and receive further education. Students could exchange ideas about culture, society and the economy with each other and with Austrians. They were given opportunities to prepare for their return to their country to participate in its economic, political and social development.

„For a culture of peace in a world of diversity“ was the initiative´s guiding principle.

Topics
One of the central concerns was to talk with and not about people with a history of migration. It was they who were to chose the topics of the AAI Vienna. Lectures about development policy were given by experts from countries of the Global South, and not by Austrians. Muslims lectured about Islam, and not Christians. Major topics also included the mutual influence of culture and religion as well as the promotion of artists from all over the world.

Duration
The AAI had been founded in Vienna in 1959. Due to the transfer of responsibility for all activities concerning the subject of “interreligious dialogue” to the Archdiocese of Vienna and relating restructuring processes, the initiative was discontinued in June 2016. Institutes in Salzburg (since 1988) and in Graz (since 1964) continue to exist. In Vienna, the Café Afro, students´ housing and the canteen of the AAI are still in operation. The mosque and chapel remain open.

Activities
A large variety of activities were offered:

  • Visits to the Hindu temple, the mosque and the chapel by school classes
  • Trainings for pedagogues in the field of interreligious and intercultural encounter
  • Concerts, literary readings, exhibitions
  • Discussions on development and integration policies
  • Lectures by intercultural subject specialists and by students from all over the world
  • Workshops in adult education centers and street events
  • Intercultural encounters in Vienna´s so-called social flashpoints, the courtyards of municipal housing
  • Café Afro and canteen, where food is being prepared to meet (almost) every religious requirement. The food is being prepared according to Islamic dietary regulations. At least one vegetarian dish is included in the daily menu.
  • The dormitory presents an occasion to practice living together in an international environment. Due to the regulation that no nation is allowed to provide more than 10% of the residents, people from about 30 nations live in the house.
  • The AAI-Gallery presented artists with the chance to exhibit their work. Artists received grants, concerts and readings were organized. In 2006, the publishing house aa-infohaus was founded and gave people with immigration backgrounds the opportunity to publish their topics.

Form of Organization
Until 2016, the AAI had been an ecclesiastical foundation with public rights. The building is managed by the Archdiocese Vienna.

Funding
The AAI was funded by the Archdiocese Vienna, by contributions from the church organizations of the Development Assistance (EZA), public subsidies and donations.

Products
Between 2006 and 2016, 21 publications have been published by aa-infohaus:
aa-informationshaus.at/das%20verlagshaus/index.html

Website | Social Media | Contact
http://www.aai-wien.at/

Nikolaus Heger
Erzdiözese Wien
Türkenstraße 3
A-1090 Wien

T: +43 1 51552 5130
E-mail: n.heger@edw.or.at, t3@edw.or.at

 

editor: jl / update: ts / jb 2022