Italia Music Export is hosting the next “She Is The Music”, an international songwriting camp dedicated entirely to creative women in music. The camp will take place during the Milano Music Week from November 20 to 24 at LePark studios, where six Italian female artists will join six international music creators for five exciting days of co-writing sessions. Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg is proud to present C’est Karma, a Luxembourgish artist who will take part in this year’s songwriting camp. The 21-year-old is about to finish her new album, which she will present on a small tour in January 2024, including the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen.

She Is the Music was launched in 2019, with American chart-topping singer Alicia Keys among its founders, with the aim of increasing the number of women in music, from artists and producers to engineers and songwriters: it’s an independent, global network that operates as a unifying organisation for women from across the industry, creating strength and impact on a global scale.

As the camp will take place during the Milano Music Week, a must-attend event that brings together all the major players in the Italian music industry, Italia Music Export is also planning to organise a music panel in collaboration with She Is The Music, with the participation of all the participants.

She Is The Music Songwriting Camp is produced by Italia Music Export and She Is The Music in partnership with CNM — Centre national de la musique (France), WBM — Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques (Belgium), The Spanish Wave (Spain), VI.BE (Belgium) and Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg.

More information:
https://sheisthemusic.org/
https://www.milanomusicweek.it/

Following a call for applications for the Research and Creative Residency for Architects, Architectural Researchers, Illustrators and Authors at the Academia Belgica in Rome, 2024, 6 proposals were received. At a meeting on 13 October, the jury commended the range, focus and quality of the projects submitted.  The jury members were César Reyes Nájera (University of Luxembourg, Master in Architecture), Karine Bouton (neimënster) and Nathalie Kerschen (Resident 2023).
The jury unanimously decided to award the residency to Dirk Kesseler for his proposal ‘Research into architecture in illustration’.

Jury Statement
The jury was impressed by Dirk Kesseler’s multidisciplinary approach and his clear and frank proposal. It was also won over by his sensitive and extremely personal approach to architecture—which has gradually become the central focus of his work and modus operandi—and the sound presentation of his arguments.

The jury also felt that the practical research Dirk Kesseler proposed to conduct in Rome, a city that is representative of antiquity and thus a stark contrast to the city where he lives, would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity for him to develop his practice and offer an interesting challenge.


The (extract from the application file)
“Exterior and interior architectural structures, became centerpieces of my compositions, functioning as visual frames, set pieces and integral parts of my storytelling. I spent more time noticing subtle details in the structural and decorative parts of my surroundings, analysing changes in material and how it affects light and shadows.
But my artistic ambition is not to display built structures in a photographic view, but to rearrange their most recognisable shapes into interesting graphical compositions: expanding and stretching spaces to deliver unusual viewpoints, provoking a range of feelings from excitement to the unease –  sometimes even bordering on the surreal, not adhering to the traditional modes of perspective drawing, but manipulating space for the desired effect and many times not even using the architectural spaces as set pieces for human narratives, but letting them become the characters themselves, devoid of human interaction.”

 

About Dirk Kesseler
Dirk Kesseler (1995) is Luxemburgish illustrator, animator and graphic designer based in Berlin.
He graduated with a degree in illustration from the Design Akademie Berlin (now called the Berlin School of Design and Communication) in 2019 and completed a Masters at the Universität der Künste Berlin in 2023.
He uses both traditional and digital drawing techniques to connvey his naive sense of humour and absurd dreams. His works spans several disciplines, including comic books, editorials, posters and product design.
Dirk Kesseler  has presented his work at several international events, such as Negotiation Matters: Berlin, Tel Aviv (2018) and Neurotitan (2020) and Tabook Festival (2021).
He received a Luxembourg Music Award in the category Best Upcoming Artwork Designer (2018), the Shimon-Peres Prize for the collective project Negotiation Matters (2021), and a Merit Award during 3×3 Annual No. 19 (2022).

 

Since its official inauguration on May 18 in the presence of H.R.H. the Grand Duchess, the Minister of Culture Sam Tanson, H.E. Michèle Pranchère-Tomassino, Ambassador of Luxembourg in Rome, and more than 200 professionals, the Luxembourg pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is a resounding success with the public. Halfway through the Biennale, which closes on 26 November, the “Down to Earth” exhibition had attracted nearly 30,000 visitors by 30 August.

Starting from Luxembourg’s role in the development of space mining, the exhibition Down to Earth by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, critically explores what goes on behind the scenes of the space industry and the media and scientific narratives on which its future development is based. Conceived as a Lunar laboratory – research spaces designed to test space robots in real life but also serving as media studios for the promotion of of the race to space – the exhibition in the Luxembourg pavilion draws on contributions from numerous researchers, artists and collaborators.

The exhibition has not only been very well received by the public, but also by the press:

“Mine, all mine. The Moon has long inspired architects. Now curators Francelle Cane and Marija Marić image what would look like if human started mini nits resources” – Financial Times, May 20, 2023.

“ (…) architecture can be a force for emancipation and a stimulating intellectual field. The Luxembourg pavilion in Venice is proof of this.”, Tageblatt, May 20, 2023.

“The curators want to launch a debate on the consequences of perceiving space as an economic area crossed by national borders. (…) For their exhibition, the curators will transport the moon to the Arsenale and reproduce it ‘down to earth’. (…) In this way, the Luxembourg contribution to the biennial is the simulation of a simulation“. – Bauwelt, 15 May 2023.

Upcoming events :

14 + 15.09 | Pavilion Days, Venice
During Pavilion Days, to be held on 14 and 15 September, curators Francelle Cane and Marija Marić will welcome professionals for a guided tour (by invitation), each day at 11.15am as part of a tour route through the heart of the Arsenale.

21.09 | “Down to Earth” conference, Luxembourg
For their first public lecture in Luxembourg, the two curators of the Luxembourg pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, present their research project and the exhibition “Down to Earth”.
Further information: luca.lu

The Down to Earth exhibition is open until 26 November.
www.venicebiennale.kulturlx.lu

Following a month of assembly, the Sale d’Armi of the Arsenale in Venice, which has hosted the Luxembourg pavilion of the art and architecture biennials since 2018, finally opened its doors to the public on the 20th of May. Down to Earth, the exhibition developed by architects, curators and researchers Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, has received an outstanding response from both the press and visitors.

The opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale represents a special moment for the professionals who attend, between a family reunion and a giant symposium, drawing in all the profiles, emerging or confirmed, and all the trends in architectural research. The professional days are important for those who defend a project, both to expand their network and to attract media attention.

During this marathon, the two curators Francelle Cane and Marija Marić conducted a series of interviews with the national and international press, before officially inaugurating the Luxembourg pavilion on the 18th of May, in the presence of H.R.H. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Sam Tanson, Minister of Culture, H.E. Michèle Pranchère-Tomassini, Luxembourg’s Ambassador to Rome, and more than two hundred Luxembourg and foreign guests.

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A national pavilion focused on the issue of resources

Starting from Luxembourg’s role in the development of space mining, the exhibition Down to Earth by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, critically explores what goes on behind the scenes of the space industry and the media and scientific narratives on which its future development is based. Conceived as a Lunar laboratory – research spaces designed to test space robots in real life but also serving as media studios for the promotion of of the race to space – the exhibition in the Luxembourg pavilion draws on contributions from numerous researchers, artists and collaborators.

The scenographic elements developed during the collective research process offer three ways of understanding the subject through a film, a workshop and a book. Armin Linke’s film Cosmic Market, made in collaboration with the Pavilion’s curators, shows the links between scientific research and the different interpretations of space legislation, between technological development and the creation of new markets, both on Earth and beyond. A collaboration between the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) and the Luxembourg Pavilion, the workshop “How to: mind the moon” takes as its starting point a reflection on five lunar materials, sketching out a new type of “materials library” in which humour is not absent. The book Staging the Moon, a stand-alone piece published by Spector Books (Leipzig; design: Studio OK-RM), contains critical essays by the two curators, as well as contributions by Armin Linke and photographer Ronni Campana.

Down to Earth thus presents in an immersive and inventive way the results of essential research into the question of resource exploitation, which fits perfectly with the theme of the Biennale’s international exhibition “Laboratory of the Future”, curated by Lesley Lokko. Rooted in the blind spots of official history, the international exhibition places architectural reflection under the sign of imagination, its main factor of change, and of ethics, which must guide us in our approach to the common space where we draw our resources.

This topic was at the heart of “(Re) penser les ressources“, a francophone discussion organised by the Belgian Pavilion in which the women curators participated on Saturday the 20th of May, alongside contributors and curators from the Belgian, Canadian and French pavilions.

Awards in line with the artistic direction

The jury of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, composed of Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli (president, Italy), Nora Akawi (Palestine), Thelma Golden (United States), Tau Tavengwa (Zimbabwe) and Izabela Wieczorek (Poland), determined a list of winners that perfectly reflected the key themes of the Biennale: “decolonization and decarbonization”.

The Golden Lion for the best national participation was awarded to Brazil for an exhibition based on research and “an architectural intervention centred on the philosophies and imaginaries of indigenous and black populations that considers the modalities of reparation”. A special mention as a national entry went to Great Britain for the curatorial concept and spatial setting “celebrating the power of everyday rituals as forms of resistance and spatial practices in diasporic communities”.

On the international side, the Golden Lion went to DAAR – Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal for “their longstanding political engagement with architectural and learning practices of decolonisation in Palestine and Europe”.

In addition, Demas Nwoko, a Nigerian-born artist, designer and architect, was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition. Demas Nwoko has been at the forefront of modern art in Nigeria. As an artist, he strives to incorporate contemporary techniques into architecture and scenography to highlight African subjects in much of his work. His work will be on display in the Stirling Pavilion in the Giardini.

For its first appointment as organiser and coordinator of the Luxembourg pavilion, Kultur | lx was able to rely on the experience of luca – Luxembourg Center for Architecture. In charge of the Luxembourg presence in Venice for both the Art and Architecture Biennials, Kultur | lx intends to further extend its contacts and capitalise upon the successful experience of this biennial.

Down to Earth, by Francelle Cane and Maria Marić can be seen until 26 November 2023, 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Arsenale, Sale d’Armi A, 1st floor.

The jury of the call for applications for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art 2024 met for a second round on Tuesday 25 April. Among the four finalists, it selected the project A Comparative Dialogue Act by Andrea Mancini & Every Island.

On 23 January 2023, Kultur | lx, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Mudam Luxembourg, launched a call for applications for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art 2024 and received twenty-two applications.

Following a first round on 8 March 2023, the jury composed of Adam Budak (Director, Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover), Michelle Cotton (Head of the Artistic Programming and Content Department, Mudam Luxembourg), Hélène Doub (Head of the Visual Arts Department, Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg), Hélène Guénin (Director, MAMAC | Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain de Nice), Stilbé Schroeder (Curator, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain), Bettina Steinbrügge (Director, Mudam Luxembourg, President of the Jury), Joel Valabrega (Curator of Performance and Moving Image, Mudam Luxembourg) has selected four proposals for the second round.

 

The jury’s statement
The jury unanimously chose the proposal of Andrea Mancini and Every Island, which it considered the most contemporary and unique proposal in terms of form and content. The collective won over the judges with its concept of the Luxembourg Pavilion as a site of artistic production. Entitled A Comparative Dialogue Act, the project takes the form of an open laboratory in which the collective initiates research processes and invites other collaborators to jointly develop a collage-style soundscape throughout duration of the Biennale, encompassing everything from experimental sounds and melodic structures to the spoken word. The collective will invite a young generation of sound artists and body performers whose practices speak to the many shapes performance can take, to further develop and respond to the installation on site in a production studio integrated into the pavilion’s architecture.

It is an exceptionally generous project; representative of the current efforts being led towards collectively developing narratives and allowing the public to acquire fundamental insights into artistic processes. It will see the group take on an experimental approach to creating a programme for the Biennale. A Comparative Dialogue Act can only exist as each part and intervention responds to what came before and after, thereby creating a cohesive and organic whole that will evolve and expand throughout the duration of the exhibition. Within a clear, carefully constructed and open display, it will offer an exciting synthesis of production and reception.

The project speaks to the engagement of a country that is constantly in flux and open to change. Similarly, the composition of the collective is representative of the great diversity and linguistic variety characteristic of Luxembourg.

 

The selected team
The winning team consists of Andrea Mancini and Every Island.
The pavilion is to be curated by Joel Valabrega.

Andrea Mancini (b. 1989) is a luxembourgish artist and musician based in Brussels. His practice is multidisciplinary and investigating the interrelation of space, subject and sound through installation, video and performance by using confrontations in the intangible materiality of sound. Andrea’s work is also using codes from the club-culture, a scene in which he’s been emerging in the past years. Some of his recent projects have been Minerals (audiovisual installation & performance, Rotondes), Matter of Deep Dreaming (audiovisual installation & performance, Casino Luxembourg) & New Age Landscape (sound and video installations, Casino Display residency).

Every Island is a design collective formed in 2021 by Alessandro Cugola, Caterina Malavolti, Damir Draganić, Juliane Seehawer, Martina Genovesi, based in Brussels. The collective investigates performativity in space through ephemeral architectures and installations. Using ambiguity as a design tool, space is conceived as a scenography for transitions, of roles, of stages and of meanings. Every Island has among others carried out the following projects: Maintenance as an act of Care (Residence in Off the grid- Casco, Leuven) Off-Temple (Santarcangelo Festival), Scenography for a party (MUDAM, Luxembourg), Welcome: a ceremony (Stam Europa, Brussels)

Joel Valabrega (b. 1991) is Curator of Performance and Moving Image at Mudam Luxembourg. She holds a master’s degree in Architecture (Politecnico di Milano and IUAV of Venice). She has worked within the institutional context (Hangar Bicocca, Triennale Milano, V-A-C Foundation and Mudam Luxembourg) as well as in independent spaces. Together with Davide Giannella, Giovanna Silva and Delfino Sisto Legnani she is responsible for programming MEGA, a Milanese project space. She has previously worked as visiting curator at the V-A-C Foundation in Moscow & Venice (2018-2019). She has curated exhibitions, performances and major new commissions with artists including Monira Al Qadiri, Tarek Atoui, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Cecilia Bengolea, Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust, Joanna Dudley, William Engelen, Lara Favaretto, Nicholas Grafia and Mikolaj Sobczak, Trajal Harrell, Yasmine Hugonnet, Christian Jankowski, Jacopo Jenna, M¥SS KETA, Ligia Lewis, Taus Makhacheva, Sidsel Meineche Hansen, Gianni Pettena, Alessandro di Pietro, Éliane Radigue, James Richards, Michele Rizzo, Mika Rottenberg, Vasya Run, Sam Stewart, Strasse, Nora Turato, Guan Xiao and ∞OS. Her curatorial practice is carried out alongside research and collaboration with art magazines.

 

The International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Established in 1893, the International Exhibition of Contemporary Art – La Biennale di Venezia is one of the oldest and most important international platforms for contemporary art. In addition to the main exhibitions organised by curators, some 90 countries participate in the Biennale with national contributions.

Appointed in December 2022 by the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, the Brazilian curator and current artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP, Adriano Pedrosa, will be the General Curator of the 2024 Arte Biennale.

The president of the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, Roberto Cicutto, envisages the next edition of the event not as ‘a catalogue of the existing, but [as an event that] gives form to the contradictions, dialogues and kinships without which art would remain an enclave devoid of vital sap’.

The 60th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art – La Biennale di Venezia will be held from 20 April to 24 November 2024.

Luxembourg has been a regular participant at the International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia for the past 20 years, along with around 70 other countries. Since its launch in 1980, this event has been the main international meeting place for specialists in architecture, a discipline whose major contemporary trends it helps to showcase and define. As well as raising the profile of those involved, Luxembourg’s attendance allows it to contribute to international exchanges and debates on architecture, whose theoretical foundations and fields of application are constantly expanding.

In 2022, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture delegated curatorship of the Luxembourg Pavilion (architecture and art) to Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, in collaboration with luca – Luxembourg Center for Architecture.

The winning team is made up of two curators, Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, surrounded by an Advisory Board and a team of contributors in the fields of scenography, content production and publishing.

About Down to Earth

From the development of human settlements on the Moon to the asteroid mining of rare mineral and metals—the wild imaginaries of extraction-driven growth have, quite literally, transcended the boundaries of the Earth. This displacement of resource exploitation from the exhausted Earth to its ‘invisible’ backstages—celestial bodies, planets, and ultimately, the Moon itself—calls for an urgent debate on the impact this shift will have on our understanding of land, resources and the commons.  critically unpacks the project of space mining through the perspective of resources. It starts from the following questions: How does tDown to Earthhis new iteration of the space race, wrapped in the false promises of endlessly available resources, depart from the existing extractivist logic of capitalism and its destructive environmental and social effects on the ground? How will the ongoing privatisation of space, characterised by a sharp turn towards private companies as main actors in the exploitation of space resources, affect the current status of extraterrestrial bodies as a form of ‘planetary commons’? What are the materialities of space mining—its logistics, technologies, infrastructures and workers—and their relationship to the existing geopolitical power hierarchies? And finally, how are architects to mediate critically the ramifications of these material fictions, rooted in the existing paradigms of growth?

Designed as mock-ups of the Moon’s landscapes, ‘lunar laboratories’ have emerged in recent years as a default feature that many institutions and private companies around the world use as infrastructure for testing different mining technologies. However, within the context of speculative economies of the space mining industry, the role of the lunar laboratories seems to go beyond being merely spaces meant for carrying out scientific experiments, instead appearing also as media studios for the production of imagery of human technologies on the Moon. The exhibition Down to Earth uses the lunar laboratory as a site for unpacking the tech industry’s space exploration narratives. With the space of the Pavilion itself turned into a lunar laboratory, a stage where the performance of extraction takes place, Down to Earth focuses on the unveiling of the backstages of the space mining project, offering another way of seeing the Moon that goes beyond the current optics of the Anthropocene.

The 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will take place from May 20 to November 26. The Luxembourg Pavilion is located at Arsenale (Sale d’Armi, 1st floor).

More information: www.venicebiennale.kulturlx.lu/en/
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Following a call for applications for the research and creation residency for architects, architecture researchers, illustrators, and authors at the Academia Belgica in Rome in 2023, 6 proposals were assessed. At a meeting on 24 January, the jury welcomed the range, focus and quality of the projects submitted. The jury members were Eline Bleser (Luxembourg Center for Architecture), Claude Kremer (National Centre for Literature) and Anne Simon (Resident 2022).

The jury unanimously decided to award the residency to Nathalie Kerschen for her research proposal URBS ANIMALIS.

Jury Statement
The jury was particularly impressed by the theme Natalie Kerschen proposed, a natural extension of her PhD research. The precision and methodology underpinning her thinking, combined with the almost intuitive approach she plans to take in the field, were rated highly by the jury which commended her for the exemplary nature of her academic approach.

The topic proposed by Nathalie Kerschen dovetails perfectly with current debates – still in the early stages – questioning current thinking about cities from the perspective of inclusive coexistence living beings in urban spaces. It is therefore highly relevant to current research in the field of architecture and the way in which we inhabit nature.

Project (extract from application)
“Drawing inspiration from the hermeneutic-phenomenological approach to architecture and recent developments in eco-phenomenology—i.e. the philosophical attempt to an ‘experience of nature’ through ‘nature of experience’ (Toadvine)—and studies of animals and anthropology, my research creation projects—which lie at the intersection between architecture and speculative design—aim to renew the relationship with animals in Rome through the prism of what the phenomenologist David Abram calls ‘becoming animal’.

This proto-eco-phenomenological approach is based on the idea that human bodies are in harmony with non-human bodies on the basis of a combination of physical experiences and conditions. It can be linked to the concepts of ‘interanimality’, and ’empathy’ (Einfülung) developed by the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty; a bodily experience shared by humans and animals. Since (eco)phenomenology focuses on the experience of animals, it offers a backdrop for examining the conditions and spatial contexts of non-human living beings from a familiar perspective, i.e. as co-inhabitants of our urban and rural spaces. At a time when exponential growth of urban populations, the extinction of species, and the loss of biodiversity seem irreversible, making animals visible in Rome means giving them a platform and bringing them back into focus for architects.”

 

About Nathalie Kerschen
After obtaining a master’s from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais and studying philosophy at Paris Sorbonne IV University, Nathalie Kerschen continued her academic studies at McGill University in Montreal. In November 2022, she defended her doctorate in the History and Theory Department at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture on ‘Reclaiming Nature in Computational Architectural Design: From Biology to Phenomenology’. In addition to her academic studies, Nathalie has worked for international architect’s offices and been exhibited in contemporary art centres, including Casino – Forum d’art Contemporain in Luxembourg and iMal Art Center for Digital Cultures & Technology in Brussels. In 2022, she began to teach theory and practical courses in the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University in Montreal.

As a researcher, Nathalie has received several grants, including an AFR grant from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (2016-2020), a Schulich grant (2016), a Meita grant from McGill University (2016-2019), excellence grants for architecture graduates (2021) and an award on completing her doctorate (2022) from the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture.

From 6th until 8th of March, Kultur | lx organises a field trip to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair with Kremart Edition and Editions Guy Binsfeld, one of the most important meetings for the children’s publishing industry.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the fair attracts over 1400 exhibitors and around 30000 professional visitors like publishers, illustrators, graphic designers, literary agents, authors, translators, booksellers, distributors and many more. This field trip allows the Luxembourgish editors specialised in children’s and young adults literature to present their publishing programme, dialogue as well as make new contacts with international professionals from the children’s publishing industry. With a diverse programme and the famous Illustrators Exhibition and industry, the BCBF also gives an overview of new trends in children’s literature.

Kultur | lx, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Mudam Luxembourg, is launching a call for applications for Luxembourg’s national participation at the Venice Biennale – 60th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art.

The 60th edition will take place from 20 April to 24 November 2024. Appointed in December 2022 by the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, the Brazilian curator and current artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP, Adriano Pedrosa, will be the General Curator of the 2024 Biennale. The theme of the general exhibition is not yet known.

By supporting Luxembourg’s regular participation in the Venice Biennale, the Ministry of Culture ensures the presence of Luxembourg artists at one of the most important contemporary art events, thus contributing to the international influence of its artistic scene.

Artists applying must be of Luxembourg nationality or reside in Luxembourg. In the case of a collective of artists, at least one of the members must meet this criterion. In addition, they must have a track record of professional activity as visual artists. Artists’ collectives or artists with a multidisciplinary orientation are also invited to apply.

A single jury will follow the entire selection process. It will bring together several national and international experts:

Applicants will be selected in two stages:

1. Shortlist applicants
Deadline: 26 February 2023
Shortlisted applicants notification : The week of 6 March 2023.

2.Project selection
Deadline: 23 April 2023.
The winning project will be announced on the week of 1 May 2023.

More information HERE.

The jury of the call for applications for the design of the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 2023 18th Venice Architecture Biennale met for the second session on Tuesday 19 July. It selected, among the three winning curatorial teams, the project Down to Earth by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić.

The jury would like to congratulate the three winning teams of the first session for the high quality of the submitted projects. The jury’s choice in this second phase was a tough one, as all the teams had done a great deal of work in formatting the documents submitted and had made meticulously prepared and well-defended oral presentations. The teams were able to provide a detailed analysis of the Luxembourg territory in the broadest sense and its inhabitants or users, while giving it a universal inflection by linking it to major contemporary issues: the question of land ownership and the management of space and resources, the tension between the normative nature of the relationship with the territory and a return to the body and the senses, or the narratives on which nations construct the scale through which they look at themselves and project themselves in space and time.

The Down to Earth project by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić was unanimously selected by the jury to design the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale.

The project, focused on the question of extraterrestrial resources, their exploitation and the narratives that underlie the resulting economy, was chosen for both the topical and speculative nature of the theme, the clarity of the proposal, the precision of the reflections, sourced and referenced, and the societal issues it raises. The straightforwardness of the message, supported by a simple scenography, articulated around a model of the Moon, a collection of “take-away” essays, and three narrative videos, should allow the Biennial’s audience to enter the subject head-on.

The project highlights a topic that remains invisible to our eyes through a critical approach, it raises the issue of the resources of the earth’s soil at different scales, but above all it raises the issue of the future world that we are creating by pushing back the limits of the spaces colonised and exploited by man beyond the Earth.

“[…] The unbridled imagination of extractive growth has, quite literally, transcended the boundaries of the Earth. This shift in mining from the exhausted Earth to its ‘invisible’ backstage areas – celestial bodies, planets, and eventually the Moon itself – calls for urgent reflection on the impact this shift will have on our conceptions of land, resources and the commons, both on the ground and beyond. Described as “the rising star of the space industry” and “a pioneer in the exploration and use of space resources”, Luxembourg, whose economy was once based on iron mining and steel production, appears as an important starting point for this debate.
Extract from the Application / Down to Earth by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić.

The winning team is made up of two curators, Francelle Cane and Marija Marić, surrounded by an Advisory Board and a team of contributors in the fields of scenography, content production (videos, texts), media and publishing. They also wish to rely on a solid network of Luxembourg and international partners.

Francelle Cane is an architect, graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles – ENSAV (FR) (2018) and is a PhD student at the University of Luxembourg since 2021 (Topic: After the Ruin. On Property and Territorial Negotiation). She has worked as an architect (Paris, Berlin) and has curated and designed numerous exhibitions. Her exhibition Enter the Modern Landscape has has been awarded the International WERNAERS Fund for Research and the Diffusion of Knowledge (FNRS), Brussels (BE).

Marija Marić holds a PhD in Science from the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich (2020) and two Masters degrees: a Master of Arts, Department for New Art Media, Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad (RS) and a Master in Architecture, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Novi Sad (RS). She is currently an associate researcher at the Master in Architecture Programme, Department of Geography and spatial planning, University of Luxembourg. She has received numerous academic awards and scholarships for her research work.

 

Winning curatorial teams of the 1st session:

 

The Jury

 

The Venice Architecture Biennale
Although the format of the Venice Biennale is strongly rooted in the construction process of Western nations, it is nonetheless an international platform with a strong prospective dimension. Every other year, it offers architecture and all related disciplines the opportunity to share its most recent developments and its most critical questioning for the benefit of a flow of ideas that remains the heart of this event.
The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, whose artistic director has been entrusted to Lesley Lokko, fully assumes this forward-looking heritage through its title “Laboratory of the future”, while clearly underlining the fields in which experiments must be conducted: ethics, climate and politics.