Accompanying Programme
Symposium + panel discussion
Mosques Today. The brief, and socio-political responsibility
© Wilfried Dechau
from 3pm / ends: ca. 8.30pm, followed by the opening of the exhibition
The exhibition “Mosques in Germany. A photographic essay by Wilfried Dechau + models and plans of mosques recently built in Germany” will be open to the public (admission free) during the event.
Dietmar Steiner, director of the Az W
Ashley White, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC
Gudrun Harrer, Der Standard
lectures in German
Christian Welzbacher, art historian and writer, Munich: ‘Euro-Islamic Architecture’
Azra Aksamija, artist and architecture historian, Aga Khan Programme for Islamic Architecture,
MIT Cambridge/USA: ‘Mosque as Identity’
Hüsnü Yegenoglu, architect, Amsterdam: ‘The Mosque as Will and Vision’
Sabine Kroissenbrunner, head of the Task Force für den Dialog der Kulturen im BM für europ. und internat. Angelegenheiten, Vienna: ‘Islam in Austria and Europe’
A panel discussion follows with the speakers, and guests: Omar Al-Rawi, Member of Parliament with special responsibility for Islamic integration, a representative of the Muslim community in Austria, and Christoph Prinz, mayor of Bad Vöslau.
Moderated by Gudrun Harrer, Der Standard
The heavily discussed mosque in the Lower Austrian spa town of Bad Vöslau is to open soon, and when it does it will still only be the third building of its kind in Austria. While Germany is experiencing an unparalleled building boom in the sector — with 184 mosques currently under construction or in planning — Austria is lagging well behind this pan-European development. What is ignored is a frequently obvious fact, despite all the polemics: Muslims also prefer suitable places to congregate for prayer in place of rear courtyards or disused factory halls. In the final analysis, such buildings also pose the question of public perception, which at best finds its manifestation in the transparency of the architecture.
In his book ‘Euroislam-Architektur. Die neuen Moscheen des Abendlandes’ (published in 2008) Christian Welzbacher calls for a debate on quality aimed at a contemporary form for Islamic sacral architecture — as there are hardly any architectural restraints dictated by religious tradition.
With the kind support of the U.S. American Embassy in Vienna
Admission free
