Esch2022 celebrates the municipality of the month from 22 June to 21 July 2022

From 22 June to 21 July 2022, the municipality of Sanem will be in the spotlight as part of Esch2022 – European Capital of Culture. The project entitled loop – down the hills, across the land invites you to discover the four localities of the municipality through 17 artistic proposals and their related programming. The official launch will take place from 23 to 26 June in the Um Belval park and will be an opportunity to discover the projects, attend exclusive performances, take part in workshops for all ages or simply enjoy the setting, installations and festivities organised during the four days.

Launch week-end

Under the mottos Remix Nature, Remix Culture and Human Remix, the loop – down the hills, across the land programme invites inhabitants and enthusiasts of nature, art and culture to rediscover their territory. Between the industrial heritage of southern Luxembourg and the abundant nature that stretches from Um Belval Park to the Zolwerknapp and the heart of the forest that surrounds the four towns of the municipality, this programme consists of 17 artistic projects proposed by the curator Anna Loporcaro. These are all stories that need to be fed by the experiences, ideas and participation of everyone. A true human, cultural and cosmopolitan adventure, loop – down the hills, across the land will be on display from 23 to 26 June in the “Um Belval” park.

The events of this kick-off will be centred around the Pavillon Source Bel-Val, a place that is both educational and recreational, but also a tribute to the municipality’s past. On the programme: Laura Mannelli‘s pavilion installation, Melting Pol‘s Final Documentation video mapping, Steve Gerges‘ Towers audiovisual installation, exclusive musical performances by Mudaze, Mike Tock and Man’ok et Cie,workshops on water by the Water Hackers collective, yoga sessions for all ages by Sarah&John, all in guinguette mode with foodtrucks and refreshment stands… Four days of open-air festivities to get the month dedicated to the municipality of Sanem off to a good start!

A month rich in other events and projects that can be discovered at several key locations reactivated for the occasion: the participatory Weaving Futures workshops at A Gadder Haus, the workshops, exhibitions and round tables of the studio d-o-t-s at the Soleuvre greenhouses, the inflatable sculptures Blow-up History by Wennig&Daubach scattered throughout the four localities, the village festival by Wagener and Galbats, the culmination of their peregrinations through the municipality, the light installation P. G.R. by Claudia Passeri on the St. Esprit plateau in Belval, the 2.0 scout camp of the Soubresaut du Castor at the Château de Sanem and the Tendres Sauvages dining card of La Bonneterie, the streetband festival NoiZi of the Harmonie de Soleuvre, the tales and female legends of Maskénada at the Zolwerknapp, the exhibition Esch-Mars of the Cie Eddi van Tsui or the concert of the multicultural association Sete Sóis Sete Luas. A rich and diversified programme that can be found from now on on the website: loop22.lu/agenda.

The projects in a few lines

Pavillon Source Bel-Val by Laura Mannelli and BeBunch
A permanent structure beyond the time of Esch2022, the Pavillon Source Bel-Val , within Um Belval Park, was designed to fulfil educational functions allowing the forgotten history of the Bel-Val Spring to be told and discovered through an audio tale and an augmented reality experience, but also recreational functions through the combination of rest, catering and sanitary facilities, making the Pavilion an essential part of the Sanem programme.

Human Remix by Patrick Wagener and Daniel Galbats
Photographers, reporters, graphic designers… the two versatile artists have developed the Human Remix project, which honours the inhabitants of the municipality. On the border between marketing and tourist supports, the two artists play with the codes of ‘Nation branding’ and generously distribute their shots through direct mailing. The last proposal will take the form of an exhibition that will serve as a framework for a “Dëppefest” on Saturday 9 July.

Blow-up History by Charles Wennig and Laurent Daubach
The Luxembourg artist duo Wennig & Daubach propose Blow-up History, a set of inflatable sculptures, temporarily installed in the public space at certain key locations of the Loop22 programme. Whether it is a locomotive, vestige of its industrial past, or the carcass of a fighter plane crashed in 1944 in Ehlerange, these inflatable sculptures are the emblematic and compressed forms of pieces of the history of the municipality of Sanem, which will be discovered in the form of a route marked out by signposts devised by the artists to connect all the pieces together.

Per Grazia Ricevuta – PGR by Claudia Passeri
Per Grazia Ricevuta, or “By Grace Received”, is an acronym often inscribed or painted on ex-votos found in churches or near statues, as thanks for divine favour obtained. These three luminous, 7-metre high letters will thus revive the Belval industrial site and pay tribute to the factory and its workers, to their sacrifices and sufferings, but also to the resources of nature and human genius.

Histoires de serres by studio d-o-t-s
Taking the form of exhibitions and a diverse cultural programme (workshops, walks, dinners, plant swaps, etc.), the French duo’s Histoires de Serres project transforms the Soleuvre greenhouses – restored by the Municipality of Sanem in 2021 – into a welcoming and dynamic space propitious to cultural mediation and dialogue. Welcoming artists and designers from all over the world, these stories are told through themes giving rise to four different exhibitions around the rose industry, the sea of plastic derived from the agri-food world, the emancipation of women through greenhouses or the rethought Wardian case.

Composition pour concasseur by Trixi Weis and Emre Sevindik
Konkasser – De Wee Vum Steng by DKollektiv
Composition pour concasseur and Konkasser – De Wee Vum Steng are two projects that honour the link between nature and the mining past of Sanem. Planned to be located in a Natura 2000 area at the foot of the concasseur (crusher) in Belvaux, the project and its programming had to be postponed until spring 2023, as the necessary permits from the Ministry of the Environment were not granted in time.

Weaving Futures by Annelys de Vet and Douri asbl
Led by Annelys de Vet, director of the Disarming Design master’s degree at the Sandberg Instituut (Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL) and Douri asbl, the <Weaving Futures> project consists of a series of workshops offered by the beneficiaries of the Red Cross Centre for migrants, located in Soleuvre, around different themes: upcycling clothes, hip-hop, songwriting, world cuisine… Numerous workshops that invite exchanges between participants, local or from elsewhere, to weave together a better future.

Tendres sauvages by La Bonneterie
The multidisciplinary collective brings together for their projext Tendres Sauvages a journalist, a graphic designer and a herbalist to tell the story of Sanem and its surroundings through its nature and its plants. Alongside the mapped routes and the edible plants listed, various workshops are planned: writing, hikes, art therapy or even “relaxation and CBD”!

Le soubresaut du castor by La Bonneterie
Setting up camp at the Castle of Sanem, the invited collective is inspired by the animal builder to whom the title, Le soubresaut du castor (The Beaver’s Jolt), pays homage by embellishing it with participative wooden constructions. Discovery walks, lunch meetings and open-air film evenings complete this Scout Camp 2.0, which will welcome you throughout the month!

Final Documentation by Melting Pol
Final Documentation is a video mapping project that pays homage to the two chimneys located on the vacant industrial wasteland of Belval. They are the last witnesses of the territory of the municipality of Sanem, showing, with the skyline of the new district and the blast furnaces in the background, what the land of the gigantic factory machinery represented throughout the 20th century.

Towers by Steve Gerges, Max Schmittand Amaury de Coppin
Towers is an audiovisual digital sculpture based around the theme of time, tracing the history of the South of the country through four stages: discovery of iron, metalworking, industrial decay and future prospects. Ten towers, similar to the chimneys of old factories, will serve as a support for the visuals generated in real time.

Eden Europa by Man’ok & Cie and Merci Raymond
Eden Europa is a project of a choreographic and musical journey through significant sites of the territory accompanied by a vegetated caravan. The project’s programme is based on a series of artistic and playful workshops around physical expression, gardening and nature, but also musical and dance performances.

Déi rout Drëps-Wat kuks du? E roude Fuedem duerch de roude Buedem by Maskénada
The main subject of the project E roude Fuedem duerch de roude Buedem is based on local legends from the Minett region. These legends will be remixed by a group of multidisciplinary artists and spread through six municipalities by means of very different performance art walks. During the month of Sanem, the Zolwerknapp will be the stage for these tales!

NoiZi – The streetband Festival by L’Harmonie de Soleuvre
With musicians from all over Europe, the NoiZi – streetband festival is an opportunity to bring the unique atmosphere of walking concerts to the Terres Rouges environment. Mixing different styles and cultures, these three-day musical wanderings will take the music out of its usual concert halls and into the whole municipality.

7 Sóis Luso Med Esch Orkestra by the cultural association Sete Sóis Sete Luas
Bringing together musicians from the Mediterranean basin and the Lusophone world, the <7Sóis> festival places its programming in the field of popular music and contemporary art. This multicultural orchestra will present its original creation in concert on 7 July at the <Um Belval> park.

Esch-Mars, de terres rouges en terres rouges by la Cie Eddi van Tsui
Esch-Mars is a project to create an exhibition combining scientific reflection, citizen debate and artistic translation on the issue of the colonisation of Mars. The project questions the scientific, technical and political organisation of a new extra-terrestrial human society through meetings and debates with citizens. Sanem hosted the first residency phase of the project and is opening its doors again for a conference in the Soleuvre greenhouses.

Practical information
loop – down the hills, across the land> is the programme produced by the municipality of Sanem, curated by Anna Loporcaro and coordinated by Services for Creatives for Esch2022 – European Capital of Culture.

Launch of loop – down the hills, across the land
From 23 to 26 June 2022 in Parc Um Belval
Exhibitions, performances, workshops for young and old, foodtrucks and refreshment stands.
A Full programme to be discovered soon on loop22.lu and our social media!
Free entrance without registration