Design City Luxembourg

Every two years, Luxembourg flaunts its artistic side. We pay a visit to this often-overlooked tourist destination

Few countries are as misunderstood as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and few peoples as misunderstood as the Luxembourgish. Yes, Luxembourg consistently ranks among the wealthiest countries in the world according to nearly every economic survey. But statistics are deceptive, especially when dealing with a small country with a total population of just half a million, of whom a whopping one third are foreign nationals.

Yes, Luxembourg City, capital and largest municipality, is one of Europe’s financial hubs, with both private banks and EU institutions based in its sprawling corporate campuses. The legend of limitless wealth imputed to Luxembourg springs from this rather recent development, a function of notoriously permissive financial regulations and the Luxembourgish government’s ubiquity in all matters concerning the EU and the Euro (Schengen, for example, is a Luxembourgish village). In truth, all this financial chicanery affects but an affluent sliver of the population.

Finally, yes, even the name of the place – Luxembourg – seems to advertise its filthy richesse. If this is a boast, however, it isn’t an obvious one, for the ancient name is not at all derived from the Latin luxus (whence the French luxe and our luxury) but from the archaic German letze, or fortification. Luxembourg’s claim to fame has historically been as a natural stronghold at the crossroads of Europe, coveted by the Spanish Habsburgs and the neighbouring French and Germans. Even the mild-mannered Belgians, in the first flush of independence, made claims on what has since become its own sovereign state.

So tourist Luxembourg is surprisingly historic and pastoral. The surviving remnants of one of Europe’s most impenetrable fortresses straddle the deep gorge which delimits the old city centre, overlooking the cafes and restaurants of the charming Grund district below. Just outside the capital one finds quaint villages and rolling pastures. Wine country stretches along the Moselle River on the country’s eastern frontier and offers itself up for a scenic drive punctuated by wine tastings. The north is a wilderness of forests and lakes, perfect for the outdoors(wo)man.

All this is well and good. But there is yet another Luxembourg to discover, a creative Luxembourg which has to do with the above only insofar as such circumstances laid the groundwork for artistic innovation. In its serendipity, Luxembourg’s history produced a nation of polyglots, speaking three official administrative languages – the local Luxembourgish, German and French – and often English as well. Luxembourgers absorbed their neighbours’ literatures and philosophies along with their languages. The successive industrial and financial booms, while they may or may not contribute a few drops of trickle-down silver, have unquestionably attracted plenty of immigrants (from Italy, Portugal and elsewhere) who contribute to a uniquely cosmopolitan population, alive with ideas.

In other words, the Grand Duchy is also a hotbed of the arts, film production and design. This Luxembourg is the star of the fledgling biennale, Design City Luxembourg, conceived by the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM). The six-week programme of Design City’s inaugural edition (officially ‘Edition 0’) is well under way but there remains plenty to see before the official close of festivities in June. Next Cabane, an exhibition presented by Italian applied arts collective Fabrica, features young designers’ minimal structures for practical use. Guido Wolff’s installation Chat Zone finds the designer provoking unexpected conversations in various public spaces around the city.

The centrepiece of Design City Luxembourg is the Creators’ Market, held on May 19 and 20. The weekend bazaar of contemporary design showcases the work of (mostly) Luxembourgish artists working in various media. Most items on sale here are unique or limited edition, some created specifically for the biennale. One such artefact is Postcards from Luxembourg: A Sound Map of the City, a recorded suite of found sounds captured in the course of a week-long exploration of Luxembourg City’s neighbourhoods. The work was conceived and carried out by local students from Diekirch’s Lycée Classique under the direction of teachers Christophe Nanquette and Claude Moyen, and in collaboration with electronic musician Fabio Orsi. A limited run of 1,000 CDs is available at the Creators’ Market.

A free weekend workshop, Subjective Map of Luxembourg City, is planned alongside the market. Children and adults are invited to contribute their personal memories and impressions, which will be incorporated into a fantastical map of Luxembourg’s capital. The exercise is part geography, part art and part lived experience.

Evidence of creative Luxembourg can be found outside the biennale and outside Luxembourg City altogether. Two years ago, the country’s first design hotel made its appearance, not in the capital but on the outskirts of Luxembourg’s second city, Esch-sur-Alzette. Esch itself is an old steel town hugging the French border. Its skyline is dominated by the Gaalgebierg, a wooded hilltop park, and the Gaalgebierg is in turn dominated by the neat, modern angles of the Seven Hotel. The boutique hotel’s 14 rooms are unique down to the fixtures, designed by Luxembourgish artisans to suit the individualised spaces and motifs. The seventh-floor penthouse offers a breathtaking panorama of Esch, its disused foundries (now adapted for culture, shopping and business) and the French countryside beyond.

The Pavillon restaurant, housed in the hotel’s lobby, is a converted brasserie in which remnants of the original Art Nouveau decor sit side by side with modern variations on the theme. Chef Fernando Andreu specialises in Catalan, Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine. The Seven also organises monthly cultural soirées, from concerts to poetry readings. Owner Dan Schroeder says that, although many of his guests are business travellers, Luxembourg is finally coming into its own as a modern tourist destination and cultural hub.

HOW TO GET THERE

Luxembourg City can be reached in about two hours by car (take the E411 towards Namur) or train (an InterCity line runs from Brussels Midi through Namur to its final destination, Luxembourg City). Esch-sur-Alzette is a further 20 minutes south (take the A4 or national train towards Pétange)

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

www.designcity.lu

MUDAM

3 Park Dräi Eechelen Luxembourg City www.mudam.lu

The Seven Hotel

50 Gaalgebierg Esch-sur-Alzette www.thesevenhotel.lu