Pure Europe : Cultivated, white, rich, Christian, old and nationalistic

An interactive exhibition offering new and surprising perspectives on what Europe means today to be presented in the Möllerei (Esch-Belval) as part of the European Capital of Culture Esch2022 from the 17^thof December until the 26th of February 2023, organised in collaboration with Luxembourg based Historical Consulting & the Dutch studio tinker imagineers.

The territory of the European Capital of Culture, with Esch-Alzette and the surrounding French and Luxembourg municipalities, can be called the cradle of Europe. Five years after the Second World War, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, son of a customs official from Lorraine and born in Luxembourg, presented a plan aimed at creating a new form of political cooperation in Europe. This plan placed all Franco-German coal and steel production under the control of a common High Authority, and by doing so he laid the foundation stone for Europe. Together with Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, Luxembourg signed the treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) in Rome in 1957. Today, the European Union is also supposed to be a community of values. In the Esch2022 region, Europe is lived every day with residents from more than 122 different nationalities and around 212,000 cross-border commuters who cross daily the border to work in Luxembourg.

The most commonly spoken languages are French, German, Luxembourgish, Portuguese, Italian and English and more than half of the population has a foreign nationality.

"Especially now that we still hold the title of European Capital of Culture, we want to invite people to engage with Europe, its identity and the future," says Francoise Poos, Cultural Programme Director Esch2022. "Under the leitmotif Remix Culture, Esch2022 strengthened local and cross-border ties in the Greater Region, but also those with its sister Capitals of Culture Kaunas 2022 in Lithuania and Novi Sad 2022 in Serbia. Together we celebrated our European identity, culture and values by strengthening social cohesion through individual or collective creative cultural expressions. This is a positive example of how Europe can work well."

This last of four exhibitions that have been shown at the Möllerei this year aims to provide a better understanding of what Europe is today in an interactive way. "Pure Europe" challenges stereotypes about the continent by looking at it from new and different perspectives. Is Europe a political project, a civilisation, an economic area? Are there aspects that are "purely" European, or is it "purely" European only in its specific diversity?

Running from 17 December 2022 to 26 February 2023, the exhibition explores the question via six attributes — cultivated, white, rich, Christian, old, national — that have traditionally been assumed to define the continent, while questioning the extent of their validity. Rather than offering definitive answers, however, the intention of the exhibition is to provoke reflection. By regularly changing perspective — from north to south, east to west, the centre of Europe to its peripheries — it invites visitors to confront their prejudices and form their own views.

As global power shifts to the East, extreme nationalisms undermine stability, and the war in Ukraine intensifies the refugee crisis, the exhibition asks some urgent questions. Following a period of global economic and cultural dominance in the 19th century, it wonders, is Europe about to become a mere province of the world once more?

Innovative design

Pure Europe takes place in the Möllerei, a building part of the blast furnaces heritage site in Belval dating from the mid-20th century, and a fitting setting given the EU’s 1950s origins in the European Coal and Steel Community.

As visitors enter the repurposed industrial space — where iron ore was once mixed with coke and limestone to create the charge for the blast furnace — they cross a walkway offering a spectacular view of hanging imagery that presents a stereotypical view of Europe. Continuing over the walkway, however, they will see the imagery from the other side and confront a more realistic view of the continent — of a Europe that is far more culturally diverse.

Designed by Dutch studio tinker imagineers, the exhibition continues on the lower level — in a ‘laboratory’ space that invites visitors to engage with different aspects of European culture via touchscreens connected to a large wall of projected images. Do they consider themselves as supranational, national or regional Europeans? How do living rooms compare across Europe and the world? What are the main migration patterns to, from and within Europe?

Also on this level, a series of alcoves focus on specific topics. What do textiles tell us about Europe’s economic history? How does skin colour vary across the continent? Does Europe build walls or tear them down? Should museums hand back non-European artefacts?

The ultimate aim is constructive — ‘to present a positive vision while also encouraging critical thinking, to build awareness and responsibility for the future of Europe,’ says Nancy Braun, Director General of Esch2022.

About Historical Consulting

Luxembourg-based Historical Consulting provides academic expertise in history and related fields, assisting individuals, companies, universities and cultural institutions in curating exhibitions, organising conferences, setting up archives, researching histories, advising on films, editing and translating, and more. historicalconsulting.lu

About tinker imagineers

tinkers imagineers is an Utrecht-based immersive experience design agency that designs and builds narrative spaces for museographic, scientific and corporate projects all over Europe and beyond. tinker.nl

Practical information

Exhibition 17th December 2022 – 26th February 2023

Vernissage 16th December 2022 18:00 – 21:00

Open Monday – Sunday & bank holidays 11:00 – 18:00

Closed on Tuesday

Prices

7€
5€ Reduced (21 – 26 years old / over 60 / ICOM card holder)

12€ Combined exhibitions at Massenoire and Möllerei
8€ Reduced exhibitions at Massenoire and Möllerei

Free Below 21 / students below 26 / interpreter guides / press card holders / Kulturpass holders

Free entry from the 17th of December to the 24th of December

Guided tours without reservation

Saturday & Sunday from 15:00

Guided tours upon request

(LU, FR, DE, EN, PT, IT, ES, sign languages)

reservation@esch2022.lu

Entrance via the Esch2022 Visitor Centre

3, Avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux, L-4365 Esch-sur-Alzette

The exhibition is complemented by guided tours and workshops.
Registration on the website Esch2022.lu / reservation@esch2022.lu

Press contacts

Patrick Weber Jessika Maria Rauch

PR Manager Lead PR & Media

patrick.weber@esch2022.lu/presse@esch2022.lu jessika.rauch@esch2022.lu

T. : +352 2883 2047 T. : +352 2883 2022

About Esch2022

The city of Esch-Alzette, together with the other 10 Luxembourg municipalities of the Pro-Sud union of communes and the 8 French municipalities of the CCPHVA, is the European Capital of Culture 2022. Esch2022 is organised under the motto of Remix Culture. Its programme of events is developed and implemented in close cooperation with municipalities, ministries and numerous other partners. Esch2022 is managed by the non-profit organisation Capitale européenne de la culture 2022 asbl. Two more cities in Europe have been appointed European Capitals of Culture in 2022, namely, Kaunas in Lithuania and Novi Sad in Serbia.