Making future heritage: Celebrate Journée du Patrimoine at Spektrum in Rumelange on 29 September

What does heritage mean to you?

Is it your grandparents' stories, the family jewellery, maybe that exquisite china resting in your auntie’s cupboard? Might it be the old buildings and landmarks that dot your hometown?

This time of the year, as the sun sets over the old town squares, the echoes of traditional music fill the air, and the aromas of long-forgotten recipes float through the streets – the European Heritage Days are arriving in Luxembourg from Friday 27th September to Sunday 6th October 2024.

This year's European Heritage Days share a theme of "Routes, Networks and Connections”. Many locations all over the country are to host a celebration of what it means to be Luxembourgish, taking the time to discover and embrace all the many ways our past influences who we are today.

This celebration is extremely relevant as we enter the new academic year and welcome many newcomers to our university. Moving countries and transitioning life stages is always stressful; you might feel lost or overwhelmed, you might feel foreign – and it’s ok, because you are, sweetheart (and so are most of us). But fret not, for the Heritage Days offer a perfect way to learn about your surroundings, find friends among locals and feel embraced by this small yet Grand Duchy.

On the 29th September, the celebration will take place in Spektrum in Rumelange, a recently opened hidden gem of a cultural centre. Honoured to be one of its contributors, I got the chance to talk to the artistic director of Spektrum Teena Lange and take a peek into the schedule she curated, which we both are very happy to share with you here.

© Spektrum

Routes

Serge Ecker, Luxembourgish visual artist:

“The Minett is criss-crossed by former mining tunnels. We are going to show a rare map of these tunnels, some of which still exist today but are not open to the public. Through our 360° film, visitors can move through these tunnels without danger… It is quite exciting: what is there to discover, what does it look like today?”

Networks

What does the sculptor Albert Hames have to do with the war memorial at Gare Luxembourg? How did this commission come about, who modelled for it and how was this huge stone sculpture transported to the city? A silent 1940’s movie from the CNA will answer these questions, accompanied by live music.

Connections

Various creative hands-on stations invite visitors to playfully discover the region's historical connections and networks through interactive workshops, immersive experiences, or traditional crafts…

© Spektrum

Programme and partners:

DKollektiv (VEWA Dudelange) is a collective of artists, craftsmen and volunteers taking on a task of regenerating the wastelands of Dudelange (https://dkollektiv.org/dkollage/philosophie/). On Sunday, they present various inventions and activities, including:

• D’Nuddelswalzwierk: A pasta rolling mill consisting of 3 rolling stands and a finissage. Participatory chord rolling inspired by the rolling mill of the Düdelinger Schmelz. 
• De StandbuererKebap: An old stationary drill experimentally converted into a kebap rotation machine.
• De Fëschmixxer: A funfair game: upcycled leftover furniture in an old wash bowl from the Düdelinger Schmelz. 
• MinettMettMetal: Experimental jam session orchestrated by members of Dkollektiv + live music accompaniment to the silent film about Albert Hames at work on the war memorial at Gare Luxembourg

FerroForum
This is a project that preserves and promotes Luxembourgish cultural, industrial and traditional crafts heritage and the expertise developed to produce iron and steel. They invite everyone to try a curious miner’s treat such as Mettwurschte vun der Heizung (grilled sausages made on the heater).

© Spektrum

Minett: The Garden of Earthly Metabolisms
Kristina Shatokhina, Christine Chen, and Cornelis van der Male are a group of architecture students from the University of Luxembourg. Their performance takes you on a journey through the history of Luxembourg’s mining industry, inviting you to discover its tragic and metamorphic influence on the local communities.

Serge Ecker: Passages
A Luxembourgish visual artist presents a 360° video of the inside of the Minette’s tunnels, including their map.

Zohra Mrad: Mapping Hames Skulptur
An abstract video playing on loop over the recently renovated bas-relief by Albert Hames. The visual light projection brings the sculpture to life, using optical illusions to offer a new interpretation of the illuminated artwork. It highlights the generations and cycles of life depicted in the piece.

Patrick Muller: DE / CODE – a visual art installation.
Interpersonal communication describes the coding of a thought into language and the de-coding of that language back into a thought. This process is always fragile and prone to misunderstanding, and cannot succeed error-free. The audio part of the installation consists of a recording of Guy Helminger's poem “Oh mei Luxemburg”, recorded by Guy Helminger.

Spektrum will also offer a crafting workshop for children, an interactive guided tour through the preserved house and studio of Albert Hames and, of course, food & drinks at the centre’s bar…

Whether you're settling into Luxembourg for the first time or rediscovering your roots, these events offer a perfect chance to deepen your appreciation for the local culture. There's something for everyone in the programme, so we at ROUX Magazine invite you to step out, meet new people, and take in the history that shapes this place.

Let’s celebrate our heritage, so it may extend beyond the past and become part of our story today.

Details

Journée du Patrimoine at Spektrum / Site Albert Hames
Date: Sunday, 29.09.2024 14:00 - 21:00

Free admission, no registration, family-friendly

Roux Magazine

Roux Magazine is made by students at the University of Luxembourg. We love their work, so we decided to team up with them and bring some of their articles to our audience as well. You can find all of their issues on Issuu.