On the strength of a general dynamic over many years and the energy of a new ‘wave’ of young people, Zaltimbanq’ decided to set up the ‘Creation Workshops’ project, aimed at children and young people aged between 9 and 13. After several years of practice, some young people are motivated to embark on a new adventure that is more specific, more creative and more artistic. This project is aimed at those young people who want to embark on the adventure of creating their own circus art, and who, through weekly classes, intensive courses, presentations, cultural awareness and encounters, will be given time and space to express themselves without limits, revealing their personalities, potential, creativity and community.

The project will culminate in the summer of 2024 with the Festival sous Chapiteau, which will showcase the young people’s creations.

Through this project, the MAN’OK company has enabled children and young people from the APEMH (Association de Parents d’Enfants Mentalement Handicapé) Nossbierg in Esch/Alzette and Kokopelli in Bettembourg to take part in body and sound expression workshops, based on the artistic work developed in the work “Landscaper – Chemins de Traverse”.

“Landscaper – Chemins de Traverse” is a programme of choreographic and musical performances and workshops for people with mental and motor disabilities. The collaboration between choreographer and musician Emmanuel Fleitz, dancer Sayoko Onishi and APEMH educators has enabled young people to become aware of their bodies in a different way, to develop a creative practice and to become more open to the cultural and artistic world.

The parents’ representatives from the Mersch primary school will be organising a project for the 2023-2024 school year on the subject of preventing violence and harassment at school.

This is an extra-curricular project aimed at parents and children attending the Mersch primary school. The aim of the project is to raise parents’ and children’s awareness of the issue of violence and, more specifically, bullying at school. The project aims to involve pupils and parents in a collective effort to prevent violence, foster mutual respect and support victims.

The project will run throughout the 2023-2024 school year, with the organisation of 3 activities: An information evening for parents; a morning reading for children aged 3 to 8; a workshop for children aged 8 to 12.

The CID Fraen a Gender, in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, aims through this project to study the history of music from a gender perspective. The creation of the mugi.lu website, which was launched at the end of 2022, will make it possible not only to create a digital collection on women composers in Luxembourg, but also to make teaching materials available to teachers. The creation of this material began in autumn 2022 with workshops for primary and secondary school classes. The aim of these practical workshops is to familiarise children and young people with the theme of musical research, using concrete examples from female musicians and composers in Luxembourg. In this way, students become researchers themselves, exploring sources and discovering a new professional field with which they have little day-to-day contact.

The theatre project “Je suis l’Eléphant, tu es la Souris” (I am the Elephant, you are the Mouse) is part of the fight against gender violence and gender stereotypes to which Artemysia Théâtre asbl has been committed for decades.

The project consisted of a theatre workshop for children aged 8 to 12, with a final production. The aim of the project was to question gender stereotypes using the tools of social theatre, in a way that is specifically targeted at the age of the participants, in order to encourage the full development of the child’s personality, while respecting their inclinations.

Artemysia Théâtre wanted the benefits of this new awareness to be felt not only by the children who actively participated in the workshop, but also by the audience (adults and children) to whom the show was presented at the end of the workshops; the staging, in the style of African ‘griots’, facilitated the sharing of content and emotions in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

The RE Bondir project explored the issue of dropping out of school, and the Reidener Jugendtreff wanted to give young people a voice to tell the story of their wanderings through music. The aim of the project was to establish a dialogue where communication is difficult, both among young people and between young people and their parents and teachers.

In weekly music workshops, teenagers aged 13 to 18 wrote, composed and recorded songs under the watchful eye of Pascal Gualandris (“Packo”) and Claudio Borri. Thanks to a highly committed team and the support of teachers and parents, the project has encouraged the young people by putting them in a position to succeed (with their project) so that they can gain confidence in themselves and their abilities.

“With this project, we want to change the way we look at young people and encourage people to listen to and understand others. Young people have things to tell us, but they sometimes have difficulty with the means of communication. Music (and art) in general is a very interesting way of communicating. (Martine Thielmanns, educator)

Located in the Pfaffenthal district, in the former presbytery, Canopée manages a 450m2 garden plot on the grounds of its head office. Since 2021, the association has been developing its Arts & Potager socio-cultural project there, a programme designed to raise awareness of creative, vegetable-growing and gastronomic practices among the neighbourhood’s childcare facilities. Alternating with introductory workshops on growing vegetables and raising awareness of sustainable development, artists will continue to run creative workshops on the flora and fauna of the Canopée vegetable garden throughout 2023. The aim is to teach young people, from an early age, to look after their earth and pass on their know-how.

As part of its creation for young audiences CHUUUT(E), the Z Art company, led by Luxembourg choreographer Giovanni Zazzera, developed an educational project for children aged 6 and over. For 3 workshops, a class from the Brouch school in Esch/Alzette worked with the artistic team to explore the theme of the piece, namely the fall, whether physical or emotional. According to the company, this is an “important subject to tackle with young people, as falling is most often associated with defeat, mistakes and a negative connotation”. In the movement workshops, and through exchanges and discussions with the dancers, the costume designer and a drama teacher, the company offered a different perspective on falling. The children were also given the opportunity to experiment with new aspects for themselves.

“I think workshops like this should be held more often in schools with artists. Children need role models to help them realise their dreams. They were so enthusiastic about the artists, who kept explaining to the children how much work goes into art. But they also taught them never to give up and to make their dreams come true”. (teacher)

True to its motto “REMIX CULTURE & NATURE”, MASKéNADA has revived the images of women in ancient tales and legends for Esch2022, European Capital of Culture. In 6 selected communes in the south (Esch, Beetebourg, Dudelange, Sanem, Mondercange and Differdange), 6 different projects were developed: from April to October 2022, 4 live theatrical walks and 2 radio walks/tours were presented. After Esch2022, i.e. for 2023, MASKéNADA wanted to “remix” this new route of legends through the mystical nature of the “Minett” region for a second time. All the routes have been adapted and made available in the form of sound tracks – which will remain permanently available on an application and at the route locations. The project is accompanied by an educational file to guide classes or groups of young people through the routes.

This mediation project was developed around the New Minett exhibition, which was the final stage of the Esch-Mars. De terres rouges en terres rouges project, produced as part of Esch2022, European Capital of Culture by the Eddi van Tsui Company. Through the exhibition, which looked at the exploitation and exploration of space and social utopias, 30 pupils from the Annexe Alliance Lycée Nic-Biever and the Lënster Lycée International School discovered the artistic translation of the subjects raised, mobilised their critical minds and questioned the world around them. The educational aspect, devised by the project leader, consisted of a preparatory talk in class, a guided tour of the exhibition at the Konschthal Esch and a discussion following the visit. The company’s artists and educators accompanied the young people in their own research and reflections on the idea of utopia.

This luca – Luxembourg Center for Architecture project was an opportunity for young people aged between 10 and 13 to discover the architectural profession by familiarising themselves with design methods and tools, and by building an object themselves. Over the course of a week, 15 youngsters were able to cultivate their creativity and work “hands on”, under the guidance of the luca teaching team and artist Serge Ecker. Together, they used recycled materials to build planters that would serve as teaching resources for the children of Clausen school, located opposite the luca. Sometimes hesitant at the beginning of the workshop, faced with the different tools and multiple stages, the participants gradually gained confidence, increased their design capacity and developed skills that most of them didn’t have before. At the end of the workshop, many of the children were inspired and motivated to continue inventing and creating projects at home.

As part of her Mat Iech outreach programme, Luxembourg choreographer Elisabeth Schilling gave 60 children and young people from the Millermoaler primary school and the Lycée classique in Echternach the opportunity to immerse themselves in her artistic universe, and more specifically in that of her creation ITA INFINITA. After attending a school performance, the young people were able to take part in a workshop on movement, led by the three dancers and the choreographer herself. Through games and discussions with the artistic team, they were encouraged to develop their own personal interpretations of a work of art, and to share their impressions with others. Thanks to the involvement of a wide range of cultural and educational partners in this project, the company has succeeded in creating a solid network that will form the basis of further cooperation in the area of outreach to young audiences, thereby ensuring the long-term future of its educational work.

Under the guidance of theatre artists and teachers from Marion Rothhaar’s team and the Théâtre National du Luxembourg, 28 pupils from the Lycée des Garçons d’Esch/Alzette were involved in the process of creating the theatrical performance The Machine Stops, based on the novel by E. M. Forster. During ten workshops at the lycée, the young people became intensively familiar with the philosophical and literary content of this visionary 1909 work on technological development. Thanks to a mutual exchange with the artistic team, their own ideas, impulses and questions found their way into the play, and they thus became the co-creators of a professional artistic project, performed 7 times as part of Esch 2022, European Capital of Culture.

As part of Esch 2022, European Capital of Culture, the MASKéNADA artists’ collective has developed theatrical performances to bring back to life the images of women conveyed in old Luxembourg stories and legends. Six legend trails in six communes of southern Luxembourg formed this “artistic walk” through the natural setting of the Minett region. For added impact, the Roude Fuedem project was accompanied by an educational project, adapted to 3 routes in particular. Collaboration with theatre educators and partnerships with schools in the municipalities involved enabled students to familiarise themselves with the theme of legends, meet the artists and receive keys to the performance.

For three weeks, Nomadic Island opened up a new space of possibilities in Luxembourg. Some thirty young people aged between 12 and 16 met, worked and lived with artists from Luxembourg, France, England and Germany as part of a multidisciplinary and participative artistic creation residency on the site of the Thillenberg stadium in Differdange. Working side by side with the artists, on the threshold between wild nature and the industrial landscape, the young people took part in the creation of various works combining painting, writing, film and the construction of wooden structures. They also learned about socially, ecologically, economically and culturally responsible and sustainable behaviour, starting with the upkeep of the artistic residency camp. It was a great experiment in cooperative artistic work for these young people.

With Sophia’s Boutaï, director Rita Bento dos Reis developed a theatrical educational project in which the participants – pupils in cycles 3 and 4 of primary education in Luxembourg – were able to illustrate, act and tell short scenes with a boutaï – a small wooden theatre of Japanese origin in which boards run – and together tell La petite fille de la mer (‘The little girl from the sea’), a tale by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen. Sophia’s Boutaï was a playful project designed to awaken artistic interest in the pleasures of language and the discovery of a great Portuguese author. The project, carried out in collaboration with the ‘Coordination de l’enseignement de Camões – Centro Cultural Português – Luxemburgo’, showed just how rich the discovery of cultures can be, particularly through the taming of reading, languages and artistic expression.

In the framework of her architecture mediation project WAA – Wat ass Architektur? the independent artist-architect Julie Marthe Hoffmann organised, in collaboration with different educational and cultural partners in Luxembourg, workshops with the title WAA – OP WEI ENGEM GRONDRËSS WËLLS DU WUNNEN? in which schoolchildren were asked to imagine the plans in which they would like to live. The aim of this project was to consciously and thoroughly address the topics of housing, cohabitation and architecture and to create a public debate on the most suitable housing for our current and future lifestyles. Thus, these life-size reflections on “new forms of housing” make it possible to imagine new solutions, at the heart of the housing problem in Luxembourg.

As part of its architectural education mission, the LUCA – Fondation de l’Architecture et de l’Ingénierie regularly organises activities for children and young people.

To launch a new series of workshops, entitled “Architektur SUMMER”, the LUCA has been supported by Fondation Sommer. Through these workshops, the participants are led towards different architectural or urbanistic reflections, but also towards more social aspects and they work on themes that change every year. For the first edition, in summer 2021, of this new programme, LUCA has chosen the theme of “Tiny Houses”, a movement that originated in America and quickly conquered the whole world and found many followers. A Tiny House contains all the essentials for daily life: kitchen, bed, bathroom… However, everything is housed in a very small space ranging from 12 to 25 m2.

During this workshop, children from 6 years old were asked to reflect on several points: how to live in a small space, to discover the advantages and disadvantages, to become familiar with the idea of alternative, ecological and minimalist housing. The workshop went beyond theory. To allow them to be creative, but also to create a greater knowledge and understanding of their built environment, real wooden “Tiny Houses” were imagined and built with the children on a 1:2 scale (they were therefore twice as small as in reality). Together, the participants created a small “Tiny Houses village” in order to raise their awareness of community life.

Anger is a very familiar and generally negative feeling. Children are conditioned not to express their anger publicly, to contain it. As they grow older, they are more likely to hide it. However, anger is not an irrational emotion and should be taken seriously and expressed in a positive way.

A journey can be manifold. It can be geographical, but also literary and philosophical. One can travel for the taste of exploration, discovery, contemplation, a desire for adventure, a spiritual call or a poetic vocation. One can also travel without moving, letting the spirit wander and thus escaping while the body remains motionless.

Despite the sanitary context, this was made possible by a strict hygienic concept and a successful collaboration between all stakeholders. For the second time, the company entered the Lycée Vauban for a one-week creative residency in January 2021. This enabled the students to familiarise themselves with the stages of the choreographic creation process. Afterwards, practical workshops were organised so that the students could experiment with contemporary dance and its language.

A short film “Trip, a choreographic creation” recounting the artists’ residency in the school was made by the students of the cinema-audiovisual option and also presented at the “Cinécourts en Herbe” festival.

Within the framework of the children’s production of the Mierscher Kulturhaus D’Mina an déi vergiesse Melodie, the Sommer Foundation supports educational music workshops for hearing-impaired children at the Centre de Logopédie. D’Mina an déi vergiesse Melodie is a music and theatre show based on the work of Beethoven, accessible to hearing and hearing-impaired children, thanks to the participation of professional Luxembourgish artists and a sign language actress.

Based on this creation, the workshops to prepare for the show allow children to listen to, perceive and feel music in their own way, to get to know various musical instruments and to express themselves on music by dancing and singing.  The workshop is conducted by the Luxembourg theatre pedagogue Catherine Hengesch, who plays on stage and who co-developed the concept of the show.

In general, this production raises awareness of deafness and underlines the importance of accessibility to artistic productions; accessibility that must be guaranteed to the whole society, including people with special needs. The hearing public (re)discovers sign language as a powerful and surprising tool of expression.

Between travel story and mythology, the play Ecological Anxiety Disorder plunges young spectators over the age of 14 into a dreamlike and surreal world, an expedition into a world apart, in the very heart of the seventh continent. A plastic continent made up of circular currents in the middle of the ocean. In this terrible relationship with the environment, the boundary between the illusory and the real becomes blurred: the ancestral fears of sea monsters, both frightening and fascinating, re-emerge between the symptoms of this pathology, eco-anxiety.

Far from falling into moralizing traps, this immersion in the abyss takes us on a fascinating scenic journey. In Ecological Anxiety Disorder, the performers take over a synthetic ecosystem in the middle of a lost paradise. An odyssey that is both poetic and disturbing, choreographing body and matter. Thanks to the “Transmissions” project based on the research material of the piece, the artists initiate young teenagers to creation and respect for the environment through a series of scenic workshops: writing, dance and music. Immersing the young people in the heart of the theatrical world and the ecological problems, they open up a dialogue by preparing the young people for the world of the play and by collecting their questions after the creation.

K -D’ÉCOLE is an artistic and cultural education project carried out in parallel with the creation of PROJECT K, and carried out in dialogue with three partners: the Lycée Vauban, the TROIS C-L (Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois) and the company Corps In Situ/ARTEZIA. The aim of this project is to promote creation and transmission by introducing an artistic and professional creation residency in a school, the Lycée Vauban.