Festivals & events – All our local tips

It used to be a factory once in Vienna’s 10th districtand now it evokes the atmosphere of an Off-Space in Berlin or of the Meatpacking district in New York, and not that of a Viennese Gallery space. The new BrotKunsthalle opened on October 9th, 2009 with the exhibition The Promise of Loss. A Contemporary Index of Iran (curated by Shaheen Merali).

The show presented new works by young Iranian artists and aims to give a glimpse into the contemporary art world and culture of Iran.

The new show will be the first of a series of…well nit known yet how many there will be but numerous ones…on the occasion of the owner’s 60th birthday. please find updates on the website.

BROTKunsthalle is in the process of becoming a vibrant and manifold art space beyond the realm of the general Viennese mainstream locations. There are going to be three exhibitions a year. By involvingother galleries and art institutions it aims to be a place of multifaceted cooperation. It is supposed to be a plattform for various artists, curators, art lovers – to create something new.

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BROTKunsthalle | Art & culture, Festivals & events | Free
Absberggasse 35 | Outer districts
Thu – Sat 12:00 – 18:00

Not only is Gartenbaukino a festival location for the independent film festival Viennale but also a host for every year’s Oscar Award -night screening including free breakfast at 3ish am.

Built in the 60ies it still got that kind of communist-Berlin-style touch to it, retro-style as we would put it now. It has got more than 700 cosy, non – Cineplex seats and a huge wide-screen with old school curtains that open when the movie starts. Gartenbaukino is an integral part to Viennale’s success (side note- Viennale is the owner of Gartenbaukino).

Along side with other independent art house movie theaters like the stylish Metro, the small but nice Stadtkino (all of them also Viennale locations) or DeFrance (focus on French movies) the purpose of Gartenbaukino is to be an opponent to the commercial franchise cinema complexes that spring up like mushrooms.

I have to admit that sometimes they are more convenient than the old ones (wider screens, more service, ) but they’ve got no unique character and there’s definitely no genuine interest in showing movies that are not part of mainstream pop culture.

COMING TO TOWN “up in the Air” – the new Clooney movie – maybe a mainstream movie but watch it an extraordinary setting – the Gartenbaukino.

IMPORTANT NOTE – already a bit in advance. March7th,-nite of the Oscar’s (aka the Oscar Award) – great ambiente, bfast for free, great talks – better than in front of your a small tv – all by yourself.

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Gartenbaukino | Art & culture, Cinemas, Festivals & events | Row 4- 14 € 6.50
Parkring 12 | Old city/center | +4315122354
Daily

Thousands of cars pass by every day on the “Gürtel”; the red-light-district is only minutes away; the nearby shopping street is attracting crowds to spend money for little and big things. And in between all these noises, rackets and hectic atmosphere, you can take a deep breath and take a break at the city’s main library at Urban Loritz Square. Even the building, connected to the underground station, just stands out and promises something different.

The promise is kept: In the modern library not only book lovers and newspaper addicts find an impressive number of 288.000 books, but also 57.300 AV Media (DVDs, CDs, computer games,…), 130 PCs and 40 audio- and video-stations. The prices are also very modest: There is a yearly ticket for 18 Euros, but you can also get a daily pass for borrowing objects for the next 4 weeks.

Of course there is also a special children section in the library, a planet for kids named “Kirango”. which can be found online as well.

There are always lots of events taking place at Urban Loritz Square such as exhibitions, flea markets and – of course – readings; almost all of them for free! And if you are exhausted from browsing through all this or if you want to read immediately, take some more steps up to the Café restaurant Canetti, where there is a good view from the terrace and quite delicious food. Your journey to another world can start…

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Library at Urban Loritz Square | Art & culture, Cinemas, Music, Shopping, Festivals & events, Restaurants (Intern.)
Urban-Loritz-Platz 2a | Inner districts | +431400084500
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat 11:00 – 17:00

The Sargfabrik is Vienna’s biggest self-governing community and cultural building. There are flats, a kindergarten, a concert hall, meeting rooms and a bath house (sauna, swimming pool, wellness area).

They have nice cultural events and nice concerts, usually focusing on alternative and world music. Here is the program!

It is definitly worth a visit if you are interested in the arcitecture and also in the project itself. That it’s name means “coffin factory” is not just a curiosity, it realy used to be one!

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Sargfabrik | Art & culture, Music, Relaxing, Festivals & events
Goldschlagstraße 169/2 | Outer districts | +430198898121
Mon – Tue 12:00 – 17:00, Wed – Fri 12:00 – 23:00