Kayl/Tétange, municipality of the month – from 22 November to 21 December 2022

Municipality of the Month from 22 November to 21 December 2022
The southern towns of Kayl and Tétange have been part of the mining basin since the 19th century. The rediscovery of iron ore deposits around 1840 transformed the Kayl valley into a kind of El Dorado, attracting industrialists and a large labour force of locals and foreigners needed to extract the iron ore. The end of the mining activities in 1978 left huge scars in the landscape, now partly reclaimed by nature. Among other things, the projects carried out as part of Esch2022 will allow the population and visitors to appropriate this unique history and identity.

The programme of events at the Musée vun der Aarbëscht (Museum of Work) situated in the Schungfabrik, a former shoe factory in Kayl, will explore the world of work through portraits of workers and trade unionists who have helped shape this history. Exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances, conferences and lectures will put these heroes of the mining era in the spotlight.

‘Den neie Mineur’ (The New Miner) is a three-part project that comprises the development of a theatre play for young people aged 14 to 20, the publication of a graphic novel aimed at young audiences on the life Jean Schortgen, the first worker to be elected MP, and the production of a ‘musical’ against the backdrop of the National Monument for Miners (text by Roger Seimetz, stage design by Andreas Wagner, arrangements by Pol Belardi and Sandro Bucciarelli).

Young people from Kayl/Tétange will also be given the opportunity to sing in the Vocal Band organised in collaboration with the municipality of Rumelange and the youth centres of Kayl/Tétange and Rumelange, and in partnership with the European Institute of Choral Singing (INECC). Singers from all walks of life will rehearse for several weeks before taking the stage to make their voices heard. Flashmobs in public places and parks, improvised concerts and public rehearsals will encourage audiences to support and sing along with these young talents. Two workshops in early 2021 and early 2022 will bring together all the participants.

As part of the Landscapes project, ten young artists, mainly from the Minette region, will be invited to ‘interpret’ the changes in the landscape that have taken place on the territory of the two municipalities of Kayl and Rumelange. How has the landscape transformed over the generations? What are the traces of these changes? Participatory workshops will be held at the Schungfabrik cultural center in the summers of 2020 and 2021. Functioning as a genuine open-air museum, Landscapes will make it possible to understand, within the natural reserve ‘Leiffrächen and Hutbierg’, the diversity of landscapes that have helped transform the identity of the region.

Find more information about Kayl/Tétange here.