ARCHIVE 2025
June 12, 2025
Visit of the well-known Pakistani writer and journalist Mohammed Hanif to Vienna and talk at the Bruno Kreisky Forum.
Tobias Matern in conversation with Mohammed Hanif
PAKISTAN – A CASE OF AN EXPLOSIVE SOCIETY?
Pakistan has recently drawn international media attention due to renewed tensions with neighboring power India. The ongoing conflict in the disputed region of Kashmir was again at the brink of an escalation but has been luckily contained, raising concerns about the potential for open confrontation between the two nuclear-armed states. At the same time, Pakistan faces significant internal challenges: military dominance, declining civic freedoms, deep-rooted social inequality shape the fabric of daily life – and Islamic extremists challenge the state. “In Pakistan, the tap water should contain anti-depressants so that people don´t lose their minds”, says Mohammed Hanif.
From his unique and insightful perspective, Hanif will offer an in-depth look at contemporary Pakistani society—and reflect on the direction in which the country is headed.
Mohammed Hanif is a British-Pakistani novelist, journalist, and playwright born in Okara, Pakistan, in November 1965. A former pilot officer trained at the Pakistan Air Force Academy, he transitioned to journalism and later to fiction writing. His debut novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008), was longlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Novel. Hanif’s subsequent works include Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011), Red Birds (2018), and the opera libretto Bhutto. He writes regularly for The New York Times, The Guardian, and the BBC, and divides his time between Karachi and London.
Tobias Matern, born in 1978, is head of international politics at the Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich. He studied political science in Berlin and attended the American University School of Journalism in Washington D.C. on a Fulbright scholarship. Matern has been with SZ since 2004. He was a correspondent for South and Southeast Asia based in Delhi and Bangkok during the height of the war in Afghanistan. He has interviewed and portrayed comedians, ministers, presidents, writers and psychotherapists in South Asia. He curated an exhibition on Afghanistan for the ‘Fünf Kontinente’ museum in Munich and published the book ‘Augenblick Afghanistan – Angst und Sehnsucht in einem versehrten Land’.
11 June 2025 at 5 pm
Visit to the newly established River Lab at BoKu. Private visit for the Austria Pakistan Society in English.
21 May 2025 at 17.30.
Hina Rabbani Khar, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan and former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, keynote speech at a seminar on OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MIDDLE POWERS IN THE GEOPOLITICAL ORDER at the Diplomatic Academy
17:30 h
| Festsaal, Diplomatic Academy, Wien
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MIDDLE POWERS IN THE GEOPOLITICAL ORDER
Seminar
Welcome remarks:
Emil Brix
(Director, Vienna School of International Studies)
Keynote:
Hina Rabbani Khar
(Chair, Foreign Relations Committee, National Assembly of Pakistan; former Foreign Minister of Pakistan)
Panel discussion:
Werner Fasslabend
(President, Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy-AIES, tbc)
Peter Haider
(President, Universal Peace Federation Austria; Chair, NGO Committee on Peace UN Vienna)
Carl Hallergård
(Permanent Representative of EU to the UN Organisations in Vienna, IAEA and CTBTO)
Mustafa Kibaroglu
(Deputy Permanent Representative of Türkiye to UN Office in Vienna; Dean, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, MEF University Istanbul; Director, Center for International Security Studies and Strategic Research, MEF Strategy)
Kamran Akhtar Malik
(Permanent Representative of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Vienna based International Organisations)
Gerhard Sailler
(Head of Department Russian Federation, Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus, Eastern Partnership Türkiye and Central Asia, Austrian Foreign Ministry for European and international Affairs)
Li Song
(Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to Vienna based International Organisations)
Moderation:
Adeel Khan
(Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy and Permanent Mission of Pakistan in Austria)
28 March 2025 at 19.30
Iftar dinner at the Restaurant In-dish, Schwarzenbergstraße 8 1010 Wien.
26 February 18.00
Visit to the Pakistan collection of the Weltmuseum (postponed to Tuesday, 1 April 2025, 6 pm)
"Collection in Conversation". A view behind the scenes with selected objects from the Pakistan collection.
The Weltmuseum Wien houses about 1000 historical artefacts, material culture and contemporary artworks from Pakistan in its collections. None of these items are currently on display. The curator for West Asia, Tobias Mörike, will present selected objects from the Pakistan collection. This visit will also be an opportunity to discuss future prospects for a better appreciation of the collection and the presentation of contemporary Pakistan in Austria.
Reading by Aftab Husain
13 February, 19.00
Literaturhaus Wien, Seidengasse 13, 1070 Wien
Reading by Aftab Husain at the Literaturhaus Wien as part of the project writers-in-exile. The project offers writers whose countries are not safe for them the opportunity to live and write in Vienna. To listen to their voices is an important contribution to more tolerance and respect in our society. The project is carried out by the association of writers and the association of translators. Aftab Husain is lyricist, translator and literary critic from Pakistan. He studied literature at the Punjab University in Lahore and graduated at the University of Vienna, where he has been living since 2003. He writes in Urdu and Hindi.
Lesung: Kholoud Charaf, Aftab Husain, Sarita Jenamani, Maynat Kurbanova
Moderation: Amina Kurbanova
Im Rahmen des Projekts Writers-in-Exile bietet Wien Schriftsteller:innen, deren Heimat kein sicherer Ort für sie ist, die Möglichkeit, hier zu leben und zu schreiben. Dass die Stimmen dieser Autor:innen gehört werden, ist ein wichtiger Beitrag für mehr Toleranz und ein respektvolleres Miteinander in unserer Gesellschaft. Betreut wird das Writers-in-Exile-Projekt seit dem Jahr 2000 von der IG Autorinnen Autoren gemeinsam mit der IG Übersetzerinnen Übersetzer. Es lesen ehemalige und aktuelle Writers-in-Exile-Stipendiat:innen: Kholoud Charaf (Syrien), Aftab Husain (Pakistan), Sarita Jenamani (Indien) und Maynat Kurbanova (Tschetschenien).
Aftab Husain ist Lyriker, Übersetzer und Literaturkritiker aus Pakistan. Er studierte Literaturwissenschaft an der Punjab University Lahore und promovierte an der Universität Wien, wo er seit 2003 lebt. Er schreibt in Urdu und in der indischen Nationalsprache Hindi.