Robert Innes, Anglican Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, expressed his support for KAICIID’s work in promoting interreligious dialogue in education, media and peacebuilding: “I was impressed by the threefold vision of KAICIID in terms of education, media engagement and peace-building,” Innes said. “The notion of an inter-governmental agency working on this agenda is a noble one, and I wish the centre every success – its mission is badly needed in today’s world.”

Bishop Innes visited KAICIID headquarters on 29 May 2015 during his visit of the Anglican community in the Austrian capital. During his visit to KAICIID, he was briefed on the Centre’s activities by KAICIID’s Chief of Staff, Fahad Abualnasr, and met with the experts at the Centre.

Bishop Innes was educated at Cambridge and later completed his ministry training at Cranmer hall, Durham. He moved to the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe to become Senior Chaplain and Chancellor of the Pro-Cathedral of Holy Trinity in 2005. He was appointed a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen in 2012. Bishop Innes was consecrated Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe in 2014 and is currently based in Brussels.

Vienna: The International Dialogue Centre opened its doors to Viennese and international music lovers with its first cultural event, a performance by two intercultural music groups on 10 June 2015.

The first group, a collaborative Vienna-based ensemble featuring young musicians from Turkey, Japan, Iran and Austria, played a selection of “Western” classical music, while the second ensemble of musicians from Tunisia performed traditional and contemporary music from the Maghreb, Andalusia, as well as other cultural influences, such as klezmer music and Parisian jazz.

“Sharing musical experiences can be an emotional and unifying experience, and can bring people together. We wanted to use this event to present different musical traditions from around the world, and to create a dialogue between them and the audience”, said Fahad Abualnasr, KAICIID Chief of Staff.

The members of the Auturja Project are Elnaz Miabinezhad (vocals), Saralilian Ravantabe, (violin), Lukas Thenius, Junko Tsuchiya, (piano), and Taner Türker, (cello), and the second ensemble’s members include Bechir (Oud) and Mohamed Gharbi (Violin) and and Fawzi Chekili (piano).