International Cultural Diversity Organization’s Long Nights of Interculturality 2025

 

International Cultural Diversity Organization – ICDO’s Long Nights of Interculturality is the organization’s flagship annual cultural festival in Vienna, typically held in September, spotlighting art, national costumes, films, dialogue, and traditional culture under the patronage of the Austrian UNESCO Commission. For 2025, the festival was scheduled from September 22 to 28 across multiple venues in Vienna.

 

2024 – Costumes of the World and Art Exhibit – Cultural Diversity and Inclusion 
 2023 :  Art Exhibit – Climate Change and Sustainability
2022 :  Art Exhibit – Peace and Cultural Diversity

This year’s overarching theme, #SafeguardingDiversity, highlights culture as a living bridge between heritage and innovation — a reminder that diversity itself must be nurtured, protected, and celebrated.

Organized mainly by the ICDO, the event brings together communities, artists, institutions, and cultural leaders to highlight diversity as a shared strength. This year’s edition was arranged in collaboration with key partners and supporters, including Josipa Palac, CEO of ICDO; Halil İbrahim Dogan, Director of Yunus Emre Enstitüsü Vienna; Art Consultant and Ambassador Norlie Meimban; Cultural Officer Alina Cardena Rey, along with various embassies and cultural groups of participating countries. Their combined leadership and expertise helped shape a week-long program that integrated cultural showcases, art exhibitions, performances, and dialogue—reinforcing Vienna’s role as a hub of global cultural exchange.

Schedules

Panel Discussion:  “Coded Culture: Diversity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”
Monday, September 22nd, 2025 • 6:00 PM

ICDO’s Costumes of the World Show – Rathaus Festsaal
Tuesday, September 23rd 2025 • 6:00 PM

Art Exhibition: “Culture, Innovation & Sustainability”
Wednesday, September 25th, 2025 • 6:00 PM

Documentaries & Short Movies
Sunday, September 28th, 2025

Costumes of the World Show

The 2025 edition of the “Costumes of the World” show, hosted by ICDO as part of its 8th edition of the Long Nights of Interculturality in Vienna, took place on Tuesday, 23 September at the grand Festsaal of the Vienna City Hall (Rathaus Festsaal).

The Festsaal of Vienna City Hall, with its historic architecture, high ceilings, chandeliers and stately décor, provided a regal backdrop for the evening’s celebration. This majestic setting underscored the significance of cultural presentation—the costumes and performances were not merely fashion or pageantry, but a recognition of heritage, identity and global connection.

The show featured a parade and presentation of over 190 handcrafted traditional costumes from 30 countries. Models, cultural groups and delegations took to the stage, showcasing their national or ethnic traditional dress in a sequence of visual tableaux, accompanied by music, dance or short narrative context. The evening included opportunities for interaction: photo-ops, a culinary journey sampling global cuisines, and exchange between participants and guests in a celebratory setting.

Significance & Themes

• Cultural Heritage & Identity: Each costume is more than apparel—it embodies cultural history, craftsmanship, symbolism and identity. As quoted in past events, traditional clothing “is more than fabric— it symbolizes a nation’s history, values and pride.”

• Diversity in Unity: The event visually and experientially affirmed that despite cultural differences, the act of sharing, presenting and celebrating diverse traditions fosters mutual respect and connection.

• Visibility & Inclusion: By placing many global communities under one roof in Vienna, the show elevated often-underrepresented cultures, emphasizing that all heritage matters in the modern globalized context.

• Preservation & Innovation: While the focus was on tradition, the staging in a contemporary setting (Vienna City Hall) and integration with intercultural dialogue pointed to how heritage can adapt, be recognized and integrated into modern multicultural society.

Highlights from 2025

• Myanmar’s participation included costumes from eight major ethnic groups—Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Mon, Bamar, Rakhine, Shan—showing deep internal diversity within nations.
• Thailand in a colorful ensemble also featuring traditional handcrafted umbrellas.
• Azerbaijan, with only 4 representatives performed a memorable impactful dance.
• Volunteer and staffing opportunities accompanied the event, allowing engagement in logistics, photography, guest-relations, highlighting ICDO’s commitment to inclusive participation.

 

Art Exhibit

On September 25, as part of the week-long activities, the contemporary art exhibition “Culture, Innovation & Sustainability” opened to the public, bringing together artists whose works navigate intersections of identity, environment, technology, heritage, and hope.

The theme is inspirational : to trace how culture can act as a driver of sustainable futures, how innovation (in form, medium, materials) can renew traditions, and how artists can be agents of ecological, social, and intercultural resilience.

Curatorial Intent & Structure

1. Culture — artworks that reflect, reclaim, question or reimagine cultural identity, heritage, memory, migration, hybridity.

2. Innovation — experiments in media, technique, digital/interactive elements, new materials, or cross-disciplinary processes.

3. Sustainability — ecological consciousness, material reuse, commentary on climate, community resilience, circularity, or the embedding of social justice into artistic practice.

The exhibition arranged the works in dialogues: pieces that root identity in place (culture) adjacent to works that stretch form or medium (innovation), and further connected to works that project future awareness or ecological urgency (sustainability). The participating artists, many of whom work across diaspora or shifting cultural contexts, are well suited to this constellation.

Artists & Highlights

This year marks a landmark moment for the ICD as it presents its art exhibition featuring artworks on silent auction for the very first time. Collectors, art lovers, and supporters are invited to explore a thoughtfully curated selection of pieces, ranging from vivid abstracts to intimate portraits, each created by talented international artists and generously donated to support the ICDO’s mission. The silent auction format adds exciting energy: bidders can quietly peruse and place offers over the course of the exhibition, with the chance to take home meaningful artwork while contributing to a cause. This introduction of auctioned art marks a new chapter for ICDO, deepening its engagement with the arts community and creating a fresh outlet for fundraising and cultural exchange.

Here are some of the artworks on display and the artists behind them.

Norlie Meimban

Meimban (Filipino, also “Norlito Meimban”) is a longtime collaborator of ICDO (serving as art ambassador, consultant) and frequently included in their exhibitions and auction catalogues.

His practice often integrates a background in animation (he previously had a 12-year career in animation) with painterly approaches—as expected, his works play with movement, layering, narrative, hybrid forms bridging illustration and fine art.

In “Culture, Innovation & Sustainability,” Meimban reinterpreted three iconic figures in art history through a vivid, geometric pop-art style, which are also upcycled using acrylic on glass. Looking closely, one would see vinyls and casette tapes neatly arranged inside the thick frames.

-The first painting is a reimagination of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” using bold, angular strokes and a mosaic of bright, contrasting colors.

-The second piece references Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”, abstracted into layered planes of color and shape while retaining the intimate composition.

-The third artwork revisits Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, rendered in expressive neon hues and modern stylization. Together, these works merge classical art with contemporary abstraction, celebrating cultural reinvention and artistic continuity.

Arnel Garcia

Arnel (Filipino) is a painter and sculptor in his own right. His emotive compositions reveal the textures of identity and belonging, using color and form to navigate the meeting point between past and present.

The sculptures beside him are fragmented human busts that blend realism with abstraction. Each piece features meticulously detailed human facial features—eyes, lips, and cheeks—carved or molded into stacked, angular segments.

The surfaces vary in tone and texture, moving from matte to metallic, suggesting both emotional depth and the layered nature of human identity.

These works explore the deconstruction and reconstruction of the self, perhaps reflecting how modern individuals navigate between tradition and transformation.

Sylvie Sanseau

Sylvie (French)  is a visual artist whose work captures the beauty and diversity of the human spirit. Her art often blends realism and emotion, focusing on portraiture that transcends cultural and geographical boundaries. Through her use of soft light, delicate color transitions, and expressive composition, Sanseau reveals the quiet dignity and strength of her subjects.

The portraits behind her showcase realistic depictions of women from diverse cultural backgrounds, each bathed in soft, diffused light. One features a woman in a floral-patterned kimono turned in graceful profile, while the other portrays a woman wearing a bright headwrap and jewelry in warm yellow tones.

Both works highlight dignity, beauty, and individuality through careful attention to texture, fabric, and light, celebrating intercultural identity and feminine strength.

Harold Khan

Harold (Filipino-Singaporean) is already cited in the ICDO sphere, often contributing works that celebrate feminine power, cultural symbolism, myth, or diaspora motifs.

In this year’s exhibit and catalog, two if his artworks were featured. Within the theme, Khan’s works highlighted it well — crafted from recycled aluminum cans, discarded wood, and brass tubes — beautifully embodies the spirit of ICDO’s “Culture, Innovation & Sustainability” exhibit.

Depicting three stylized birds in flight, the artwork transforms everyday waste materials into a poetic representation of freedom, renewal, and environmental consciousness.

The second artwork, seen in this photo depicts a stylized postage stamp featuring the Philippine national bird, the maya (Eurasian tree sparrow). The piece is designed to look like an oversized ₱5 postage stamp, complete with serrated edges and a printed date of 1993 — a nod to the period when the maya was officially recognized as a national symbol before the Philippine eagle took its place.

Harold’s work reflects themes of heritage, symbolism, and nostalgia, transforming a familiar object — the postage stamp — into a cultural artifact of memory and identity. By enlarging it into a fine art piece, the artist invites reflection on how national symbols, once part of daily life, can embody both personal and collective history.

Jepoy Almario

Jepoy (Filipino) is shown standing beside one of his striking figurative paintings — a work that embodies his signature fusion of realism, symbolism, and emotional depth.

The artwork depicts a woman in a vivid red dress, her pose introspective and delicate, surrounded by graceful arowanas, which often symbolize prosperity, strength, and spiritual balance in Asian cultures.

The composition is marked by a rich, almost cinematic lighting, with meticulous attention to the texture of fabric, skin, and scales, creating a surreal yet serene atmosphere.

Jepoy’s style reflects a mastery of classical techniques blended with contemporary sensibilities, often exploring the interplay between human emotion and nature. His works invite quiet contemplation — each piece a poetic moment suspended between dream and reality.

Astrid Castillo-Almario 

Astrid (Filipino) is a visual artist whose work celebrates the complexity of identity, femininity, and cultural memory through the language of fabric and form. Her paintings and mixed-media pieces often feature intricate layers of dresses, symbolizing the many selves we inhabit—personal, historical, and imagined. Each garment becomes a metaphor for resilience and transformation, weaving together patterns from her Filipino heritage with contemporary aesthetics.

Her artworks for this year’s exhibit depict bundled and folded dresses rendered with fine, realistic detail. The fabrics appear suspended against deep, dark backgrounds, emphasizing their delicate textures and the sculptural quality of their folds. The interplay of light and shadow brings out the softness of the material, transforming ordinary garments into contemplative studies of form, memory, and femininity. Together, the works evoke quiet elegance and introspection — as if each dress holds an untold story.

Through her layered compositions, Asstrid transforms textile imagery into a visual archive of stories—of women, migration, and belonging—inviting viewers to reflect on how culture is both worn and reimagined.

Jose Augusto Ramirez  (Chespi)

Jose Augusto Ramirez, also known as Chespi (Argentina), is a contemporary artist whose work bridges expressionism, abstraction, and emotional realism. His art often delves into the psychological landscape of the human experience, using bold textures, layered brushwork, and nuanced color palettes to convey depth and feeling.

Chespi’s portraits and figurative works reflect an introspective exploration of identity, memory, and transformation — subjects that resonate across cultures. His style balances structure and spontaneity: beneath expressive strokes lies a disciplined composition that anchors each piece in harmony and balance.

He has two pieces on display at the art exhibit, one was this vivid, surreal portrait composition that blends expressive color and emotional depth. It features multiple overlapping human faces, painted in dynamic shades of blue, purple, pink, and red, set against a contrasting warm background of orange and magenta hues.

The faces are interconnected—representing different states of mind, emotions, or identities—while the use of vertical stripes adds a sense of rhythm and fragmentation, as if the figures are being deconstructed or revealed through layers. The overall effect is psychological and introspective, evoking themes of inner conflict, identity, and transformation. This painting is a portrait of humanity experiencing different calamities, wars, and other global problems.

Ahmet Musa Koç

Ahmet (Turkey) is a contemporary artist and scholar whose work examines how urban space, cultural identity and everyday environments shape the subject. Through a range of media — painting, digital imaging, photography-based manipulation — he invites the viewer to look again at the built world and the people within it: their portraits, their surroundings, their sense of place (or lack thereof). His work is thoughtful, layered with research, and relevant to discussions of culture, architecture, modernity and belonging.

His artwork titled “Messi”  shown in the image is a contemporary portrait characterized by a blend of realism and expressive abstraction. The painting depicts a young Syrian man, rendered with a thoughtful and somewhat melancholic gaze. The artist uses a cool color palette dominated by soft turquoise, teal, and muted earthy tones, which gives the work a sense of calmness and emotional depth.

The brushwork is loose and textured, allowing areas of the canvas to appear almost unfinished or fragmented—perhaps symbolizing the incomplete or disrupted sense of identity often experienced by displaced individuals. Despite its simplicity, the portrait conveys dignity, introspection, and quiet resilience.

Through “Messi,” the painter captures not just a likeness but a human story of endurance and individuality, bridging personal narrative with broader social themes surrounding migration, identity, and belonging.

Renee Avila

Renee (Filipino) is an artist who bridges aesthetic traditions (classical figure painting) with contemporary concerns (urbanization, environment, identity). Her works often bring in natural motifs : flowers and trees, maybe even decay or growth placed with the figures in her compositions. Her signature style is composed of soft, almost luminous palette for the figure and flowers, contrasted with the sharper, cooler tones of skyscrapers.

One of her pieces at the exhibit is a sculptural female figure standing among a bed of flowers, rendered in a way that evokes marble or classical statuary. Behind her rises a dramatic city skyline, with tall, angular skyscrapers reaching into a bright sky. Vehicles and street elements suggest a bustling, contemporary urban environment. The contrast between the timeless, serene statue and the dynamic modern city creates a strong narrative tension.

Renee gets inspirations from her travels, always seeing each new environment as a canvas for her next piece. She is also very keen at observing every statue out there, incorporating them into the landscape of an urban setting.

A Larger Dialogue

The 2025 Long Nights of Interculturality stands as a strong testament to ICDO’s mission of honoring cultural heritage while embracing the future. Through its diverse program—from the grandeur of the Costumes of the World showcase to the depth and innovation of the contemporary art exhibition—the festival illuminated how culture thrives when shared, reimagined, and protected.

Each performance, panel, and artwork became part of a larger dialogue about identity, sustainability, migration, creativity, and collective memory. Whether expressed through traditional attire, modern reinventions of classical imagery, or deeply personal artistic narratives, the week-long celebration affirmed that safeguarding diversity is not merely about preservation, but about allowing cultures to evolve, interact, and inspire. In bringing together communities, creatives, and global voices under one inclusive platform, ICDO once again demonstrated that interculturality is both a bridge and a living practice—one that continues to grow richer with every story, every costume, and every work of art.

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