Subjective mapping of Luxembourg
Autumn 2018 —Autumn 2019
Casino Luxembourg - Forum d'art contemporain invited Subjective Editions to collaboratively map Luxembourg from the inside out, capturing its cultural phenomena, measuring its complexities and unveiling its inhabitants’ treasures. During an open exhibition and workshop in 2018 (curated by Véronique Kesseler), visitors were offered to contribute their visual voices. Creative minds with a relationship to Luxembourg were invited via open calls to map the country according to a subject close to them – whether through maps, infographics, photo series or other cartographic explorations – and to collectively show what Luxembourg means to them at this moment of time.
“Subjective Atlas of Luxembourg, mapping the alternative” Annelys de Vet & collaborators Casino, 18 October –9 December 2018. Project invited by Casino Luxembourg, Forum d’art contemporain within the framework of Design City LX Festival, and with the support of OEuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte. Table Design by LightMatter.
More often than not, maps are made by outsiders and show bird’s eye perspectives of the territory they seek to describe. Google is not a citizen of Luxembourg, yet it has mapped the nation in unprecedented detail. Many more institutes, companies and individuals have mapped the Grand Duchy, but these manifold mappings stay out of sight, which makes it difficult for us to engage with their different narratives. Maps play an important role in how we identify ourselves: they are part of the discourse, the talks that shape our world. And thus, no single map may be dominant. The identity of a given region is based on a multitude of notions in which we as citizens, as people in a region, should have agency.
Casino Luxembourg launched their social design project “Subjective Atlas of Luxembourg – mapping the alternative” by Dutch, Brussels based designers & initiators Annelys Devet & Kurt Vanbelleghem. The gathering & exchange took place Thursday 25.10.2018, 7pm, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain, 41, rue Notre Dame, Luxembourg City. The project was presented by Annelys Devet, followed by an exchange with Kurt Vanbelleghem with our guests: Anna Loporcaro (Mudam, Design City) & Sandra Laborier (Radio Ara, Graffiti) , first contributors and the public on subjective views on Luxembourg. The talk was followed by drinks and snacks in the Subjective Atlas exhibition space. This evening was the starting point for a one-year project and would thus be the occasion to get to know the project and their initiators, and would be as well the occasion to inform yourself on how to get involved, and become part of it as an individual or group.
Opening workshop by Annelys de Vet, Casino, 18 October 2018. Photo: Alix Bouteleux
Closing workshop, Casino, 8-9 December 2018. Photo: Annelys de Vet
The Subjective atlas of Luxembourg records an attempt to map Luxembourg by people on the ground. We asked committed citizens from all over the country what they consider of value and how they signify Luxembourg at this moment in time. Their many contributions together unveil not only where (and onto what) Luxembourgers project their love and admiration, but also what feeds their frustration and anger.
The Subjective Atlas of Luxembourg does not want to be complete, scientific or practical; it won’t tell you how to find your way. But you encounter views from within – insider perspectives from which the reader can draw her/his own conclusions. It shows what is considered important by those living in Luxembourg at this moment in time. We hope that by presenting these alternative maps, other narratives can be articulated, and that by gathering a multitude of visual voices the atlas may help us to understand the specificity and sensitivity of Luxembourg society. The atlas challenges to develop new languages with which to speak about who we are and how we relate.
One of the school workshops, here with École fondamentale Kirchberg, Casino, October 2018. Photo: Lucie Majerus
Workshop with Banque de Luxembourg by Annelys de Vet & Lucie Majerus, Casino, 29 April 2019. Photo: Lucie Majerus
Over the course of our exhibition at Casino Luxembourg - Forum d'art contemporain, special workshops for visitors, groups and school children were organized by the designer Lucie Majerus: “At first many kids had difficulties getting the national colours out of their mind when I invited them to come up with a new flag. There was one class from Kirchberg who depicted the duality of Luxembourg city: the high liners and skyscrapers versus the nature of the valley. One girl showed both, the city and its transportation shown by the Adolphe bridge and the new colourful tram as well as the nature part; the valley topped with trees.”
Workshop, Urban Sketchers, December 2018. Photo: Giacomo Piovan
Workshop, Kulturfabrik, 23 March 2019
One might imagine Luxembourg to be a restricted country gravitating around Luxembourg City, but this is not the case. Each region has its own characteristics. Three workshops were organized outside Casino Luxembourg. Giacomo Piovan, who runs the social design studio Socialmatter, was given the task of finding these missing links: “The first workshop took place at Bamhaus, where Urban Sketchers Luxembourg shared their drawings made on-location at different sites. Then we played host to Kulturfabrik, a cultural centre located in Esch-sur-Alzette. Here the more edgy part of Luxembourg, the industrial South, was unveiled. Finally, we dived into the North and asked the participants at Cooperations Art Wiltz, an art centre for artists with disabilities, to come up with unexpected perspectives.”
Students from the Lycée des Arts et Métiers also collaborated in this inclusive project. Thanks to this participative approach, we were able to actively involve about forty participants, giving many the chance to raise their visual voice on Luxembourg.
Workshop, Cooperations Art Wiltz, 28 March 2019. Photo: Giacomo Piovan
Editorial meeting, Casino, May 2019. Photo: Giacomo Piovan
To complete the atlas, the editors invited individual artists, photographers and designers to contribute additional works to allow a diverse view of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. All the contributors shared their perspectives, opened their senses and articuled their views with remarkable enthusiasm. It is thanks to the imagination and generous input of more than 100 artists, students, designers, architects and other sensitive souls that this atlas speaks so beautifully and subjectively.
Book launch, Casino Luxembourg, 28 October 2019
Acknowledgements
Special acknowledgements to
Anna Loporcaro (Design City LX) for starting the project of the Subjective Atlas of Luxembourg in the frame of the festival. Fred Entringer, Natasja d’Herbais De Thun (Lycée Guillaume Kroll), Giorgia Lopez, Andrea Rumpf, Jaime & Ivan (Lightmatter), Joseph Tomassini, Manon Wenner, Jan Glas, Didier Scheuren (Coopérations Wiltz Entreprises socio-culturelles ), Rob Vintage, Nei Aarbecht I CNDS (Comité National de Défense Sociale), ProActif a.s.b.l. and CK Charles Kieffer Group.
With the generous support of Casino Luxembourg - Forum d’art Contemporain, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, Banque de Luxembourg
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