Top-Tips and Hotspots December 09

This human world

Under the motto “1989–2009 Alles bleibt anders” (Everything remains different), the 2nd Vienna Film Festival for Human Rights (3–13 Dec) focuses on human rights abuse in the past and present. The opening film, ‘Fatal Promises’, by Katharina Rohrer takes a look at Ukraine, the main centre for human trafficking in Europe.
www.thishumanworld.at

Gender Check meets Annie Leibovitz

Two exhibitions both promise true girl power. While ‘Gender Check’, featuring 400 works at the Museum of Modern Art (Mumok), looks at gender roles in Eastern European art, the exhibition at Kunst Haus Wien devotes itself to the top US photographer Annie Leibovitz’s work, from celebrity portraits to war zones. www.mumok.at and www.kunsthauswien.com

Clash of ideas

With ‘Struggle for the city’, the Wien Museum presents one of the largest historical exhibitions of recent times. Around 1,800 exhibits over 2,000m² afford an insight into Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s – a time when modernity and conservatism were irreconcilably opposed to one another.
www.wienmuseum.at

Let’s speak English

Vienna has a rich theatrical tradition, so it is no wonder that English-speaking theatre has also found a niche here, with Vienna’s English Theatre and the International Theatre. High quality improvised theatre can be enjoyed every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month with the ‘English Lovers’ in Drachengasse.
www.englishtheatre.at, www.internationaltheatre.at and http://dev.english-lovers.com.

Hotspots:

Trendy hangouts
On 6 December the Danish group ‘The Asteroids Galaxy Tour’ will be raising the temperature in the trendy new club, Pratersauna.
www.pratersauna.tv und www.electronicbeats.net

Beckett in Vienna
Twenty years ago, Samuel Beckett died in Paris – now, the ZOON music theatre group is dedicating the work ‘Neither’ to him on 18 and 19 December.
www.brut-wien.at

„Videorama“
An ‘exhibition obstacle course’ presents videos by Austrian artists from the last ten years. Unusual!
www.kunsthallewien.at

SK Rapid Vienna – Celtic Glasgow
Football fans are in for a treat on 17 December at the Ernst Happel Stadium, when 50,000 green and white-clad fans will be hoping for a Rapid victory.
www.skrapid.at und  www.celticfc.net

Pure cultural pleasure

Vienna offers a wide range of possibilities for immersing yourself in culture. Whether you want to go to an exhibition, indulge your cinematic tastes or simply strut your stuff on the dance floor – the city is geared towards culture from dawn to dusk. A glance at the programme of cultural events shows that the city has more than one string to its bow, for its heart no longer beats only in time to waltz music. Countless music festivals take place throughout the year and Vienna has attracted plenty of attention in recent years as a centre of jazz and electronic music.  People are also perfectly familiar with the world of the stage here, since the Viennese have always been at the forefront of theatrical developments. Vienna has also made a name for itself as a city of film. It has always been a favourite location for international film productions, and recently, Austrian filmmakers have successfully demonstrated their talent at the Oscars and at various festivals in the city. There is nothing to stop you from enjoying a complete cultural experience, therefore.