Esch2022 provides an insight into the programme for children and teens

Numerous projects in the programme are intended to increase the interest in their native country

Esch2022 comprises around 140 projects; about half of these have a special component for children and teens or offer this young demographic a lot of exciting things to discover. At a breakfast press conference in the Cultural Centre Schungfabrik in the commune of Kayl-Tetingen, the Esch2022 team and their project partners presented some of these projects.

"Through our programme we want to strengthen the interest that children and young people have in their native countries. The sooner and more often that children, their families, and friends, come into contact with culture - the better. This could be as observers, participants and even hosts.”, says Delphine Harmant, Project Manager - Programme for the young public at Esch2022. "We do not see children and young people as an isolated target group, but rather as a part of other groups. Culture unites generations."

Three project partners presented their projects in person while another three did so via video conference calls. Each project offers students the opportunity to get to know the history of the Esch2022 region in a new way or allows students to help shape projects themselves, even across borders. Active participation not only lets children and young people in Luxembourg and France partake creatively and artistically, but it also allows them to get to know their peers in other municipalities, as well as in the neighbouring country, and helps them create networks among themselves.

Cooperation with, among others, the Ministry of Education, schools, and theatres

The Cultural Centre Schungfabrikis not only hosting the breakfast press conference on 29 April, but it is also where part of the project Den neie Mineur will be presented. The Esch2022 project partners, together with the SCRIPT of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and the Centre for Political Education, are developing a "Graphic Novel", a "comic novel", about the life of Jean Schortgen, with which they want to excite young people about the history of their homeland. In addition to the lives of the miners, and more recently, members of parliament in Luxembourg, the importance of history for the present as well as the future will be presented. One day, the "Graphic Novel" will be given a place in the classrooms next to the traditional history and social studies books.

The Théâtre national de Strasbourg (TNS) will be part of the global project with Esch2022| Un territoire de théâtre pour demain |, a project dedicated to young people and intended to spread throughout the cross-border territory. The TNS project is composed of two parts: Mix Up and Troupe Avenir Transfrontalière. Through the art of theatre, the project aims to “working towards inclusion, and social and cultural cohesion, focusing specifically on the youth, the most important asset to our future." according to Stanislas Nordey, director of the TNS. Mix Up: proposes that 120 students from 4 secondary schools and high schools, working in tandems, collaborate through a theatrical journey. The students will discover a travelling theatrical form in their school, and then take part in a theatrical practice course with the actors of the show. Troupe Avenir Transfrontalièreoffers 20 young people aged between 16 and 25, who have no theatrical experience, the opportunity to participate in the creation of a show. For four months, the young people will be accompanied by two artists for joint rehearsals, taking place in several places in the region, until the performance at the Arche, Pôle culturel de Micheville.

Numerous cross-border projects

As part of the project Déi Well danzen am Bësch, aimed at primary school pupils, a part of the forest will become a place for fantasy and art as well as a real stage on 9 and 10 July 2022. Although the final production will take place in the forest, under the direction of the primary school students from Pétange, Differdange and possibly other communes, the preparations will begin in the classroom. The children’s thoughts and ideas are reflected in the final production and, it will incorporate as many cultures and families as possible. Some will also perform along with the artists.

The three projects presented via the video conference calls also promote cross-border exchanges. Poppespënnchen a.s.b.l., the founders of Marionnettes sauvages, an international puppet theatre festival that will take place in September 2021, see it as an interesting way learn about other countries and their cultures. The pieces are often performed without speech. This helps overcome language barriers. During the festival, several productions will be shown under the headline "From Orpheus to La Sauvage – European legends from past to present". The presentations of "Orpheus" will be performed by professional artist groups from all over Europe, from Kaunas for example. Puppet theatre productions regarding the legend of the "Wild Woman”, “La Sauvage – European legends of nature", will be performed by local artists, youth groups, school classes as well as groups from other institutions. Preparatory work is already under way.

Minett history rewritten

MASKéNADA a.s.b.l.’s project: "E roude Fuedem duerch de roude Buedem" brings together six of Luxembourg's Pro-South communes. Six old stories and legends from the south of Luxembourg are going to be retold, focusing on female characters, and they will be presented in six shows throughout the participating communes. Over the coming months, this is how the new "legend trail", made up of different paths through Esch-Alzette, Bettembourg, Sanem, Dudelange, Mondercange and Differdange/Lasauvage will be created. This is a place where both old and young explorers can experience history, long after 2022. The first official event will be multilingual and will take place in Esch-Alzette in April 2022. There will be QR codes along the way and it will be an exciting event for the whole family. Some of the trails and paths will also be used for the cultural presentation of the Minett Trail. In 2023, these stories will also be published in the form of an audiobook,"Lauschterrees".

The Rëm.xx project, from the municipality of Rumelange, consists of three parts: cultural heritage, art, and people. It focuses on the future while at the same time enhancing its past. The opening of the first part of the development, which includes the residence of the Luxembourgish sculptor and restorer Albert Hames, is planned for the fall of 2022. Special media workshops for children will take place there. In order to respond to today’s challenges in the education sector (digital disparity, accelerated job development, digital inclusion) young people and school audiences will have access to workshops with digital kits like "Arduino", through which interactive, electronic objects can be created using electronic maps and "Makey Makey", an invention kit designed to connect everyday objects, like a banana or a flower to computer keys. "Ozobots", small programable robots, may also be used.

In addition to the modernization and expansion of the "Musée national des mines de fer luxembourgeoises", an innovative project with significant value for all generations is to be developed in its immediate vicinity.