The Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition is one of the world’s largest and most important international platforms for contemporary art. In addition to the main exhibitions organised by curators, some 90 countries take part in the Biennale Arte via national contributions.

In December 2022 the Board of La Biennale di Venezia appointed Brazilian Adriano Pedrosa, curator and artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), as Curator of the 60th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition in 2024. The theme of the general exhibition is not yet known.

The Luxembourg Pavilion’s exhibition space is located in one of the rooms of the Sale d’Armi at the historic Arsenale site, which also hosts the International Exhibition and some of the National Pavilions.  A description of this space, which covers 240 m2, can be found here.

Applicants will be selected in two stages.

1. Shortlist applicants

Deadline: Applications must be submitted by midnight on 26 February 2023 via the Kultur | lx platform: https://support.kulturlx.lu/en/.

Applications must include the following:

• Covering letter – Preliminary design/concept (one A4 page)
• Portfolio
• Curriculum vitae

Shortlisted applicants will be notified during the week of 6 March 2023.

2. Project selection

Deadline: Applications must be submitted by midnight on 23 April 2023.

In this stage, the shortlisted artists will be invited to submit a detailed project description that includes the following:

• Artistic project description (no more than five A4 pages)
• Technical description, including plans, sketches, etc.
• Estimated budget

A budget guidance note and the procedures for submitting applications will be sent to the shortlisted applicants when the shortlist is announced in the week of 6 March 2023.

The shortlisted artists will be invited to present their project to the jury during a 30-minutes audition that will take place in Luxembourg in the week of 17 April 2023.

The shortlisted artists will receive compensation of €1,500 for finalising the project for the second round. For the winning project, this compensation shall be considered a down-payment. The names of the shortlisted artists will be published.

One project will be selected as the winning project and recommend to the Minister of Culture, who will then award the contract to design the Luxembourg Pavilion.

The jury’s decision is final.

The winning project will be announced on the week of 1 May 2023.

The entire selection process will be handled by one and the same jury. The jury will comprise national and international experts, as well as representatives of Mudam Luxembourg:

• Adam Budak, Director, Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover
• Michelle Cotton, Head of the Artistic Programming and Content Department, Mudam Luxembourg
• Hélène Doub, Head of Visual arts, 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, Mudam Luxembourg

The members of the jury will be guided by the following criteria when making their selections: artistic background of the applicant(s), relevance and originality of the project, how well the project fits into the international context of the Biennale, and the technical and financial feasibility of the project.

Applicant artists must have Luxembourg nationality or reside in Luxembourg. For an artist collective, at least one member must have Luxembourg nationality or reside in Luxembourg. Applicants must also be able to demonstrate, via relevant experience, that they are professional visual artists. Artist collectives and transdisciplinary artists are also welcome to submit applications.

Questions about the call for applications or the selection process may be sent to the following e-mail address: biennale@kulturlx.lu

Incomplete applicants and applications received after 26 February 2023 will not be eligible for the selection process.

The Venice Architecture Biennale is the world’s largest cultural event for architecture. The aim of this international event is to give the world an overview as comprehensive as possible of the themes and projects capable of addressing the future’s scenarios in the fields of architecture, urbanism, the city and our ever-changing society.

The 18^th edition will take place from 20 May to 26 November 2023. Nominated in December 2021 by the Fondazione la Biennale di Venezia, Lesley Lokko, architect and woman of letters will be the Chief Curator of the Biennale 2023.

Lesley Lokko, who is responsible for the major exhibition, will also decide on the theme of the Biennial, which is expected to be announced in summer 2022.

The presence of Luxembourg at the Venice Architecture Biennale meets several objectives:

• To enable Luxembourg actors to develop their practice by broadening their thinking and their frame of reference to other fields;
• To contribute to their visibility at a national level and to their international influence;
• To promote research, the reflection and the culture of Luxembourg and its creators among professionals and international audiences.

The Pavilion, located on the first floor of the Sale d’Armi, offers an open plan space of some 240 m² with a ceiling height of 5 meters. A description of the venue is available in the appendix.

Since the Fondazione la Biennale di Venezia introduced new procedures for national participations in 2016, the Ministry of Culture has assumed the role of curator for the Luxembourg Pavilion. In this role, the Ministry, as the main financer of the national participation, appoints Kultur|lx – Arts Council Luxembourg as project manager who will be in charge of the whole organisation of the Luxembourg presence in Venice.

The project for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Pavilion will be selected by a jury made-up of:

• Michelle Friederici, President of Ordre des Architectes et des Ingénieurs conseils Luxembourg
• Cécile Fries, Architect, sociologist and lecturer at école nationale supérieure d’architecture, Nancy
• Claudine Hemmer, Visual Arts and Architecture Advisor, ministry of Culture Luxembourg
• Nikolaus Hirsch, Artistic director of CIVA – Architect, landscape and urban culture, Bruxelles
• Sara Noel Costa de Araujo, Architect and curator of Luxembourg Pavilion 2021
• Guittou Müller, representing LUCA
• Hélène Doub, representing Kultur | lx

The call is aimed at multidisciplinary curatorial teams for the production and creation of the Luxembourg Pavilion of this Venice Architecture Biennale edition. The teams must include at least one Luxembourg architect, living in Luxembourg or able to demonstrate cultural integration in the Grand Duchy. Moreover, the teams may include all professions useful for the reflection, production and mediation of this pavilion. For example, artists, architects, urban planners, landscape architects, researchers, critics, curators, writers, philosophers, etc. can be part of the team. In addition, the teams may call on the services of third parties.

The applicant team must designate a project leader who will be the main contact for Kultur|lx.

The applicant team must have experience in organising or producing exhibitions and be able to develop an architectural discourse and defend it in public.

Proposals may take the form of exhibitions, installations, performances, workshops, readings or other relevant formats.

In line with the directions of the Biennale 2023, the proposals will affirm the ethical and social functions of architecture, reflect the way it can support inclusion, well-being, sustainability and diversity. The selected proposal will be suitable for presentation in the context of the Venice Biennale and will consider the specific nature of the Pavilion. They will also give an idea of the subsequent presentation of the project in Luxembourg.

The criterias are :

• The relevance of the theme in relation to a contemporary architectural discourse;
• Singularity and artistic relevance of the project, in relation to the above-mentioned components;
• Contribution to the discourse on Luxembourg’s architecture and its influence;
• The implementation of the reflection in the Luxembourg cultural landscape;
• Quality of the portfolio presentation (argumentation, clarity, readability);
• Feasibility of the project and budgetary coherence;
• Identification of the expected impacts of the project;
• Identification of target audiences;
• Professional experience of the applicant team;
• Specific attention to circular economy;
• The possibilities of a later adaptation of the project in Luxembourg.

The selection will be carried out in two sessions:

1. The first session will focus on the preliminary brief projects.

The application deadline for the first session is midnight on 25/05/2022 via the website https://support.kulturlx.lu/en 

The application must include the following components:

• The references and works of the team members (portfolio + cv);
• A project proposal of maximum 2 A4 pages written in French, German or English indicating the challenges of the project and the form it could take;
• A provisional budget;
• A work schedule.

The jury will meet between 30 May and 1 June and will shortlist three applicants, who will then be invited to develop their project for the second session, who will be informed by 2 June.

2. The second session will focus on the detailed projects

Deadline : July 14, 2022 at 06 :00 pm at the latest

Physical files (models, boards, etc.) must be sent to Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg / 5-7 rue de l’Alzette, L-4011 Esch-sur-Alzette).

For the second session, the 3 shortlisted candidates must submit:

• The detailed project including all visual elements (layout plans, photos, videos, etc.);
• A detailed provisional budget;
• A set timetable;
• A proposal for when the project returns to Luxembourg
• A final title for their project.

The jury will then meet for a second session between July 18 and 20. Applicants may be asked to come and present their project to the jury.

The jury will submit its proposal for a winning project to the Minister of Culture

The jury’s decision is final.

The announcement of the winners will be made on July 22, 2022.

As the commissioner, the Ministry of Culture has appointed Kultur|lx as the project Director of the Luxembourg Pavilion.

As the project Director, Kultur|lx will be in charge of the whole organisation of the Luxembourg presence in Venice. The selection of the curatorial team will be made through this public call for applications.

The detailed roles and responsibilities will be defined, depending on the team and selected project, in an agreement to be drawn up within two months of the announcement of the winning team.

Selected applicants for the second session will receive an allowance of 1,500 euros for the preparation of the portfolio for the completion of the project for the second session. For the selected team, this lump sum is to be considered as a down payment. The names of the three shortlisted projects will be published.

Kultur|lx will award the sum of €75,000 to the selected team. This sum will cover the costs of the project creation as well as the fees and is to be included in the overall project budget to be submitted for the second session.

The overall budget made available to Kultur|lx by the Ministry of Culture for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is €418,000 (excluding rental charges and the project to be adapted to Luxembourg). This sum includes the costs of installation, transport, travel and accommodation as well as communication and personnel costs for production, mediation and supervision.

Any questions regarding this call should be addressed to helene.doub@kulturlx.lu 

• Artists;
• A.s.b.l (non-profit organisations);
• Cultural institution;
• Luxembourg nationals or living in Luxembourg;
• The selection is open to theatre, puppet, musical theatre, young audience and multidisciplinary performances created or reprogrammed between September 2022 and June 2023;
• The application deadline is Sunday 15 January 2023 at midnight.

The selected artistic team shall not be eligible for any other support from Kultur | lx due to its presence at the Avignon Festival.

Performing arts (excluding dance)

The application must be sent via the online application form only. No documents can be sent by post.

Each applicant is entitled to submit one or more projects.

An independent jury will attend the applicant’s productions or view them on video. The selection of the winning production will be based on the artistic quality of the performance and the quality and feasibility of the submitted project.

Kultur | lx reserves the right not to submit to the jury any incomplete project or that does not meet the selection criteria.

The jury is made-up of:

• Serge Basso de March (author and poet)
• Pablo Chimienti (communication and public relations manager at THEATER FEDERATIOUN)
• Godefroy Gordet (journalist, author, director and president of the cross-border playwrights’ collective Le Gueuloir)
• Lee Fou Messica (artistic director of the Espace Bernard-Marie Koltès – scène conventionnée d’intérêt national in Metz and co-president of the Quint’Est network)
• Karine Sitarz (critic)

The jury’s decision is final.

• Ties of the artist / a.s.b.l to the Luxembourg cultural landscape;
• Artistic quality of the performance;
• Feasibility of the promotion and dissemination strategy at least on the French territory;
• Identification and references of the professional team;
• Adaptability of the performance to the show terms of the Festival Avignon OFF (characteristics of the stage, reduced set-up and dismantling times, limited storage possibilities, limited lighting, duration of the time slots…), and especially to the Caserne des Pompiers (see technical sheet);
• Accessibility of the performance to a French-speaking audience

• Art CV and portfolio of the artistic team;
• Promotional portfolio;
• Technical file;
• Production budget for presence in Avignon;
• Touring strategy;
• Recording with good audio quality as soon as available;
• Any additional information that may support your application.

• Travel;
• Accommodation;
• Fees;
• Per diem;
• Transportation expenses (sets, instruments, insurances);
• Technical expenses (additional equipment rental);
• Promotional costs:
  • Press agency / public relations costs (fees);
  • Purchase of advertising space (print, radio, online, professional publications…);
  • Promotion and digital marketing (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram…);
  • Invitation tickets for professionals
• Fees for Tour Manager

The artistic teams presenting one or more projects shall, during the selection period, ensure invitations for the members of the jury, subject to availability.

The entire artistic team ensures its availability for the entire duration of the Festival OFF d’Avignon and a potential tour during the following season.

The artistic team ensures that the copyrights of the show are covered for the festival and for a tour in France.

The artistic team shall provide Kultur | lx with an assessment report on its participation in the Festival OFF d’Avignon (including a financial report, attendance figures, media coverage, the number of professional contacts made, promotional possibilities, etc.).

By submitting an application, the artistic team states that the information provided is true and complete. They agree that all members of the jury may have access to the personal information of their members. They authorise the Kultur | lx Coordination service to check the accuracy of all information relating to the application. If any of the information provided by the artistic team is inaccurate, the artistic team consents that Kultur | lx reserves the right to cancel the application.

The artistic team shall be available for meetings and preparatory meetings with the jury and Kultur | lx staff.

Kultur | lx guarantees artistic freedom. The artistic team is autonomous as to the choice of its project within the framework of the allocated residency and in accordance with its artistic project described at the time of the application.

Kultur | lx expressly reserves the right to cancel to cancel the award of the aid for duly justified reasons, without any applicant being abble to claim any compensation in this respect.

The aid shall be paid in two instalments:

• The first instalment of a maximum value of 80% of the total amount of aid shall be paid on signature of the agreement;
• The second instalment of a minimum value of 20% of the total amount of aid shall be paid on submission of the evaluation and financial report.

List of the latest winners
2019 – Révolte by Alice Birch / staging by Sophie Langevin
2021 – Salles Gosses by Mihaela Michailov / staging by Fábio Godinho
2022 – Terres Arides by Ian de Toffoli / staging by Ian de Toffoli (and the ensemble)

For more information
https://www.festivaloffavignon.com/
https://www.theater.lu/