Experience multilingualism!
The richness and diversity of Luxembourgish literature will take front stage from October 20th to October 24th at Frankfurt Book Fair with Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg’s booth: “Books from Luxembourg”.
Kultur | lx brings together the Luxembourgish editorial landscape characterised by its multilingualism and the plurality of literary forms. Ten publishing houses and their authors will be present, witnesses to the vitality of Luxembourgish publishing: capybarabooks, Black Fountain Press, Éditions Guy Binsfeld, Éditions Phi, Éditions Schortgen, Hydre Éditions, Kiwi E.L.G, Kremart Edition, Op der Lay and Zoom Éditions.
The participation of the Centre national de littérature (National Literature Center) as well as the Zenter fir d’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch will shed light on the work carried out both on Luxembourgish literature and Luxembourgish language.
During five days, Luxembourgish publishers will have the opportunity to meet international professionals, the press but also the public.
Kultur | lx will also present a fresh and vibrant programme offering a wide panorama of Luxembourg literature:
– Fiction takes the floor: conformism and side steps
– The challenges of multilingualism
– Childhood and imagination
– Bookbloggers: new experiences
Three catalogues have been produced in order to present the richness of the editorial production in these three genres (fiction, non-fiction, Children & Young Adult)
Inaugurated this Friday, October 1st, Konschthal Esch wants to be a place of reference for art in Luxembourg and in the three borders area.
The building, a singular place
Formerly a furniture store, Esch-sur-Alzette acquired this building in 2020 to transform it into Konschthal Esch – Contemporary Art Space. With a total surface of nearly 2400m2, this Konschthal enjoys exceptional spaces on 4 levels. Far from the classic White Cube, after a bare space, the supporting elements and raw structures such as concrete slabs and metal beams give it its singular appearance.
The vocation: to develop new exhibition strategies
Konschthal Esch is a production and exhibition platform for contemporary visual arts. It welcomes international contributions as well as local productions, while offering a place for socio-cultural exchange in resonance with current topics and their repercussions in today’s art world. It supports the local art scene and offers it a platform for expression.
“Konschthal initially also plays an important role in a socio-cultural and local context for the dialogue between generations, to become a place of exchange where history, the present and the future are part of the programming.” – Christian Mosar, artistic director of the Konschthal Esch.
A festive opening programme!
In addition to the numerous concerts organized during the opening weekend (in partnership with the Kulturfabrik), 4 inaugural exhibitions are presented (and visible until January 09, 2022):
– Ego-Tunnel, an original presentation of Gregor Schneider’s artistic journey with a succession of seven “Räume” – or immersive installations, associated with a selection of 150 works, including films, photographs and objects.
– The two exhibitions of Lët’z Arles (of which Kultur | lx is an institutional partner): Providencia by Daniel Reuter and ERRE by Lisa Kohl
Finally, the Project Room connects the sculpture Mechanics of the Absent Revolution by Martine Feipel & Jean Bechameil (in preview of their exhibition in Kaunas, Lithuania), with a series of photographs by Niels Ackermann and a selection of books by Sternberg Press.
Konschthal Esch – 29-33, boulevard Prince Henri, Esch-sur Alzette
Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois, is offering an artistic team based in Luxembourg a choreographic residency at La Chapelle, Annonay, to accompany it in the final steps of its creation. La Chapelle is under the joint direction of choreographers Abou Lagraa & Nawal Lagraa Aït-Benalla.
Following a call for applications, the selection jury, composed of Bernard Baumgarten (TROIS C-L), Jérôme Konen (Kinneksbond Mamer), Tom Leick-Burns (Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg) and Léa Tirabasso (choreographer and 2021 laureate of the residency), unanimously decided to grant the residency to Tania Soubry for her project DJ Whimsy or what will the climate be like?
Tania Soubry is a transdisciplinary artist, dancer, performer and choreographer, working with the body, atmospheres, text and sound. Her practice and work investigate the possibility a poetic re-enchantment of the world through sensuousness, humor and solidarity, following tensions, curiosities and desires. Preoccupied with regeneration on an individual, social and global level, she uses fictive imagination to deal with the present and create possibilities, considering the links between the economic, political, socio-cultural, ecological, spiritual and psychological. She is based in Luxembourg and London.
The laureate will benefit from a specific accompaniment offering financial support as well as networking around a choreographic creation project. She will be welcomed for a 4-week creative residency at the Chapelle Sainte-Marie and then for a 2-week technical residency at the Théâtre des Cordeliers in Annonay.
The residency, which will take place in autumn 2022, will be an integral part of the Annonay Rhône Agglo En Scènes season and the resulting choreography will be previewed at the Théâtre des Cordeliers in Annonay.
The creation co-produced by the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg will also be an integral part of the latter’s 2022/2023 programme and will be presented there as a sneak preview.
Details of the call for applications: https://www.kulturlx.lu/support/residence-choregraphique-de-fin-decreation-a-annonay-f-2/
Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg has officially launched support since July 5th and artists and institutions have already been able to benefit from them. Some of the supports and grant are already well known in the cultural sector.
We will soon organize Q&A sessions on the different support schemes of Kultur | lx.
Q&A Sessions : Grants and subsidies
05.10.2021 | 11:00 (FR) + 13:00 (UK)
WEBINAR
Duration: 45 minutes
Moderated by the Kultur | lx team: Valérie Quilez, Diane Tobes and Giovanni Trono
Kultur | lx offers several grants to support the Luxembourg cultural scene. How can I benefit from them? Am I concerned? What type of support corresponds to my project? We are here to answer your questions!
Online registration for the French and English sessions
Introduction to the Portfolio Grant
06.10.2021 | 14:00 – 17:00
NEIMËNSTER (COVID CHECK EVENT)
Moderator: Diane Tobes
Speaker: Michel Welfringer
How to reproduce and document artistic creation? What form or medium should be chosen to show the artist’s approach? What is a good publication? How to design and distribute a publication?
The designer / typographer Michel Welfringer will explore these basic questions through a multitude of examples of physical or digital publications. Other speakers will share their experience on these questions of documentation of creation.
About Michel Welfringer
Michel Welfringer is a graphic designer and typographer who lives between Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris. In his studio, he collaborates with a network of photographers, stylists or designers… which guarantees a good creative dynamic and exchanges on a human scale. Together, they conceive visual identities, imagine editorial supports, draw typefaces, animate them and… love to design books!
M!ch is in charge of the graphic design for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, LuxFilmFest or Hydre éditions in Luxembourg and accompanies artists in their creative process. In 2019 the book remember souvenir / denis meyers was awarded as Best editorial design at the design awards Luxembourg and was finalist of the most beautiful art books at the european design awards.
The first event of Kultur | lx since its launch in July 2020, the Luxembourg Classical Meeting took place on September 16th and 17th. It aimed to gather all the actors of Luxembourg’s classical and contemporary music scene to introduce them to 11 international delegates who have been invited for this occasion. They were coming from flagship artistic agencies, orchestras, and music venues (Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, House of Music Hungary, CLB Management, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen…).
During these two days, eight artists and ensembles – Artemandoline, Hélène Boulègue, Max Mausen, United Instruments of Lucilin, Cathy Krier, Benjamin Kruithof, Machine à Trois, Christoph Sietzen – could showcase their talent in Philharmonie’s Chamber Music Hall. Each of them presented a 20 minutes programme showing their artistic and musical personalities. Driven by the remarkable acoustics and atmosphere of the Hall, each showcase proved to be a success. Parallel to these galvanizing and poetic musical moments, the Luxembourg Classical Meeting also allowed the international delegates, the associations present during these days – Luxembourg Music Publishers, Fédération luxembourgesoise des Auteurs et Compositeurs, CID Fraen an Gender -, the artists, and the representatives of Luxembourg venues to exchanges ideas and points of views, but also to consider further projects together. This has been made possible thanks to a speedmeeting session that took place in the Foyer of the Philharmonie, and exclusively open to professionals acting in the classical music sector.
Kultur | lx would like to thank all the partners of the event: the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the ministry of Culture, the Fédération luxembourgesoise des Auteurs et Compositeurs, Radio 100,7 and the SACEM Luxembourg.
With the support of Kultur | lx and its Luxembourg Focus programme, the TROIS C-L – Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois was able to welcome 5 foreign programmers from Belgium, France and Lithuania to the performances of Anne-Mareike Hess and Léa Tirabasso in the framework of the Aerowaves Dance Festival Luxembourg on 3 and 4 September.
Yuval Pick, director of the Centre chorégraphique national de Rillieux-la-Pape was also present throughout the festival to lead a workshop and a 3-day masterclass with Luxembourg dancers and choreographers.
Professional meetings between foreign guests and artists were organised informally after the performances on 3 and 4 September. The professionals were able to forge links not only with Anne-Mareike Heiss and Léa Tirabasso but also with the Luxembourg artists present, including William Cardoso, Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro, Sarah Baltzinger, Piera Jovic, etc.
This event was also an opportunity to strengthen the work of the TROIS C-L network and to encourage discussions on various projects between the different structures invited.
Luxembourg Focus Programme
In order to help facilitate scouting of Luxembourgish talent, Kultur | lx helps organisations who want to invite foreign professionals to events and exhibitions. The goal of this scouting is to increase recognition of Luxembourg creatives and productions, facilitate access to the artists, raise awareness, and enhance their impact.
The BPS22 Museum of Art in Charleroi, Hainaut Province, is getting ready to welcome the second event in the first monographic museum exhibition of the Brognon Rollin artistic duo from October 09th, 2021 to January 09th, 2022. Co-produced with the MAC VAL in Vitry-sur-Seine, France, this exhibition represents a perspective of their work from the past 15 years. It includes exclusive new creations such as Yamina, the longest neon lifeline they have ever produced. This perspective underlines the uniqueness of their definitive world and their consistent approach.
Born respectively in 1978 and 1980 in Messancy (Belgium) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin have spent almost 15 years creating multifaceted work, guided by great conceptual and ethical demands. This is reflected in their first large-scale museum exhibition, shown internationally in two events: the first at the MAC VAL in France in 2020, and now in Belgium.
Under the title L’avant-dernière version de la réalité, borrowed from the writer Luis Borges, they develop a recurring question: does reality exist outside of its representations? And more specifically, what does this mean about its time and perception? Its relativity? Its spatial dimensions? How can we shape the experience of time passing? Or that of anticipation or suspense?
In a selection of approximately 40 works, including several new productions at each event (such as Yamina, at 27 metres the longest neon lifeline the two artists have ever created and produced especially for the BPS22), the exhibition traces the main phases of the pair’s artistic journey. Consequently a thread of recurring issues weaves its way between the different works, giving the exhibition its overwhelming consistency.
“The venue of the BPS22 being different from the MAC VAL, the scenography of the exhibition has been rethought offering the implementation of a real path in space and allowing the pieces of art to dialogue with each other“, explains David Brognon. This is further emphasised by the use of ambitious staging: greyish, inconclusive hues envelope the walls and floor, while perfectly adjusted circles of light pick out the works and frames within a hushed atmosphere, conducive to meditation and reflection. With this powerful staging, the artists have imagined the exhibition as a global installation, inviting visitors to perceive it as a whole.
“The exhibition is more immersive like “Yamina” which allows visitors to dive into the palm of this hand, and thus offer a fairly direct relationship with the history of these men and women married by force, “concludes the designer.
ABOUT BROGNON ROLLIN
For almost 15 years, the Brognon Rollin duo have created multifaceted work, with an almost obsessive obstinacy that places humanity at the centre of all their artistic images. Sharp observers of some of society’s actions, the artists create works that fall within the history of minimalist art and express great sensitivity in their design and the context of their creations.
Great sensitivity being a twofold sensitivity. This is the advantage of a well-balanced duo. ‘We have to agree 100% that a piece should be shown publicly. This pact means that our production is rather slow, but it does mean that it’s fair. Because we don’t approach an issue in the same way, when we do agree about the purpose, that means the piece is finished.’ (Stéphanie Rollin); ‘We have two different perceptions on the same situation, but we both want the same thing, we want to process it in the same way. So every piece is an accurate representation of what she feels and what I feel.’ (David Brognon).
Directed by Fábio Godinho and presented by storyteller Betsy Dentzer, the first ceremony of the Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis and the new Lëtzebuerger Theaterpräisser took place on Friday 17 September in Théâtre des Capucins.
Organised by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Theater Federatioun and Trois C-L, the ceremony took place in the presence of H.R.H. the Grand Duchess and the Minister of Culture, Sam Tanson, as well as numerous artists and representatives of the cultural sector.
The creation of the biennial Lëtzebuerger Theaterpräisser is a long-standing demand of the sector, which advocates the valorisation of theatre professions through such public recognition. It corresponds to recommendation 21 of the Kulturentwécklungsplang 2018-2028 (KEP): ‘Establish an award system that values cultural and artistic creations’.
The prize list
Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis
Elisabeth Schilling (choreographer, dancer)
Nationalen Theaterpräis
Frank Feitler (playwright, director, theatre manager)
Theaterpräis – Op der Bün
Marie Jung and François Camus (duo – actress & actor for La Peste)
Theaterpräis – Hannert der Bün
Anouk Schiltz: (set & costume designer for a wide range of plays, including Truckstop, Ivanov, The Hothouse and Le Poisson belge)
Theaterpräis – Nowuesstalent
Catherine Elsen (designer & actress)
The prizes are each endowed with a financial reward and the winners also received a necklace of golden clapping hands designed by the Luxembourg artist-designer Anne-Marie Herckes.
As part of the exhibition Head & Hand / Κaïros, the curator of the exhibition, Sofia Eliza Bouratsis presents a parallel programming from 17 to 19 September 2021:
the people
their place
caring for the common good
& contemporary art
“I am more interested in the role of the observer, the synergies and the participatory process than in that of the creator. The craftsmen define the intermediate space between the artist and the work. This spontaneous work of the craftsman, his aesthetics, his technical approach, aiming at functionality, his own “hands-on” way of thinking, “with his hands”, constitutes a force of deconstruction, which invites us to a new reading of the space around us.”
Kyriaki Costa
The collective project Head and Hand / Kairos by Kyriaki Costa, which started as a residency of the artist and the curator in Tinos (June-July 2021), evolved into a route that starts from the Culture Foundation of Tinos and which, passing through the specially designed paths, reaches as far as the Hani tis Kyra-Xenis, Tripotamos, Ktikados and the medieval trail that used to lead to the castle of Xomburgos; it also encompasses an exhibition that is staged until next Sunday (19/9) in the village of Tripotamos, on the premises of the Association of Tripotamians and Sberadians “O Kavos”.
The flags that indicate the paths of this tour, which is accompanied by a map, have been inspired by Cycladic architecture and have been made with recycled materials used in the tourism industry, such as sheets, towels, tablecloths etc. from various hotels of the island. In addition, the village of Tripotamos was chosen to honour Cornelius Castoriades, who spent many of his summers there, while the rest of the trails came about through meetings the artist and the curator had had with the locals, who indicated the diachronic routes of the area.
At the heart of the project lies the people’ s association with their place and more specifically with public space – the landscape of the island, the architecture and the community areas. Its realization is achieved through “everyday rituals”, such as walking, meetings and storytelling, which are activated by the artist focusing on care practices and the way they infiltrate everyday life.
The exhibition is the result of the visual connection between the artist and the island. Before visiting Tinos, Kyriaki Costa researched weather forecasts for Tinos and the dominant role that wind plays in shaping forms in the everyday life of the island. However, through a mental game, the concept of “Kairos” (meaning weather in Modern Greek) takes the philosophical meaning of “adequate time” or that “unique moment”, a moment that, once it slips away, doesn’t come back. The present time of the place and the temporality in the everyday life of craftsmen, locals and visitors of Tinos, become the active centre of the project.
The results of the action, which is constantly in progress, are co-forged by Kyriaki Costa together with the inhabitants of Tinos, the air, which plays a dominant role on the island and the participant craftsmen and the artisans. Through this partnership, Head and Hand / Kairos raises questions regarding the relationship between functionality and beauty, contemporary art and everyday life, care and appropriation of common elements.
Kyriaki Costa’s Head and Hand / Kairos finishes next weekend (17-19/9/2021) with a programme of events, which includes a public discussion on September 18th at Tripotamos, Tinos.
At 07:00pm Guided tour of the exhibition – At Association “O Kavos” by artist Kyriaki Costa and curator Sofia Eliza Bouratsis
Discussion programme:
Head and Hand / Kairos, an artistic topography of care
Kyriaki Costa, artist
Sofia Eliza Bouratsis, art theorist curator
(Contemporary) art and (its) day-to day (routine): an artificial separation?
Enrico Lunghi, art historian
Tinos, architecture, and narrative
Maria Vidali, architect
Visit – Explore – Observe – Measure – Draw – Visit
Arch – ISLaND / Vasilis Benetos, architect
The last few weeks of summer, National and International Coordinators Diane Tobes & Valérie Quilez were delighted to welcome the new members of Kultur | lx in order to complete the team base and carry out its missions for the support, development and promotion of Luxembourgish Culture and Creativity in Luxembourg and worldwide.
Clémence Creff
Project Manager | Classical / Contemporary music
After 9 years of classical and contemporary dance at the Academies of Dijon and Mulhouse, Clémence Creff took a master’s degree in Public Policy – Cultural Policy and Management. She did her first internship in the production department at the Festival d’Automne à Paris and then joined the Kajimoto agency in Paris as a Manager Assistant for two years. Since 26 July, she is the Project Manager for classical and contemporary music at Kultur | lx, substituting for Stéphanie Schulze on maternity and parental leave.
Aviva Rübel
Project Manager | Department of Literature and Publishing
After a degree in global brand and corporate communication, Aviva Rübel started working at Repères Communication for various accounts in the institutional and cultural sectors and then joined Reading Luxembourg in 2019 as a Project Manager. With her solid experience and in-depth knowledge of the literature industry in Luxembourg, she’ll be supporting Jean-Philippe Rossignol in the development of the Department of Literature and Publishing.
Emilie Gouleme
Head of Communications
Emilie Gouleme has a Master’s degree in Communication from the EFAP Paris School. She started her career in the film industry as an Assistant press officer for Public Système Cinéma. She has been living in Luxembourg for 11 years and first worked in the magazine media industry (Bold Magazine, then Janette as a Communication Manager). In 2017, she joined the event communication agency Shine a light as an Account Director. Since 16 August 2021, she has been sharing her interest and experience in the communication field for the promotion of Kultur | lx.
Victor Mayot
Head of the Department of Performing Arts
With a degree in Political Science and Art History and a particular interest in where Culture stands in international relations, Victor Mayot first integrated France’s cultural diplomacy network in India, Germany and Madagascar. After returning to France, he stayed committed to international cultural relations, more specifically in the Theatre industry and focused on translation and transmission issues, by joining the Maison d’Europe et d’Orient and then Transeuropéennes. He subsequently took on the coordination of projects for the IETM, an international network for contemporary performing arts, where he worked to provide a space for meeting, exchange, inspiration and reflection on common and specific topics related to the performing arts sector.
Ludovic Prost
Deputy Manager for Administration and Finance
Originally from the Greater Region, Ludovic Prost graduated in Economics and has long-term experience as a Senior Finance Executive with an expertise in the audio-visual field: TV and digital production, rights negotiation, licenses, copyright. After 22 years with RTL Group, he joined Kultur | lx on 1 September 2021.
Jean-Philippe Rossignol
Head of Literature & Publishing
Jean-Philippe Rossignol focuses his work on contemporary writing and multilingualism, with the Festival Lettres d’Europe et d’Ailleurs and the German literature review Litterall, for the KOSMOPOLIT organisation of which he is the Artistic Director. He conducts interviews on translation, one of which was published in Fundstücke (Centre national de littérature, Luxembourg). Editor, critic, University lecturer including at Sciences Po Paris, he directed an art residence for authors within the Department of Literature at the Grand R – National Scene La Roche-sur-Yon. Co-organiser of the Poetry Night readings and member of the design group Les Presses Pondérées, he writes fictions and Art-related texts for exhibitions: Echo of the Unknown, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston; Opéra Monde, Centre Pompidou-Metz; La Mode exposée, HEAD/Geneva.