Thanks to its geographical location, Luxembourg is naturally destined to hold a central position in Europe. The same applies to Luxembourg Art Week, an essential platform in the international art market and for its various stakeholders, from gallery owners to collectors, curators to artists, not to mention philosophers, art historians, and of course, the public! It is the entire cultural, financial, and intellectual ecosystem that we must connect to make the contemporary art market a living and interdependent organism – a systemic entity.
Luxembourg Art Week in 5 words by Caroline von Reden, Director.
PLATFORM
The term platform primarily signifies the central role that Luxembourg Art Week is poised to assume in the coming years within the Grand Duchy as well as in the international art market. The concept of a platform indeed offers an expansive definition of a contemporary art fair: it is no longer just a place for selling artworks but also an interface capable of connecting various stakeholders, including gallery owners and collectors, curators and artists, as well as philosophers, theorists and art historians, not to forget the audience, of course! It is the entire cultural, financial and intellectual ecosystem that we must link together to transform the contemporary art market into a dynamic and interdependent organism—a systemic entity, if you will. This is the strategic vision of Luxembourg Art Week that I aspire to promote as its director.
CONNECTIONS
To play this role of an interface, we need to further strengthen and establish connections. Connecting is not about being plugged into social networks all day! Rather, it is about embracing a mindset of unity in relationships that must allow us to become a vessel for exchanges, dialogues and ideas among various stakeholders in the art market. Throughout the year, in the context of the fair, our task is to create an emulation, an impetus, to embed Luxembourg Art Week in a process that ultimately leads to the sale of artworks. This, in my view, distinguishes a contemporary art fair designed as a platform from a mere shopping experience. The key challenge, therefore, is to link, facilitate and multiply the pathways leading to Luxembourg Art Week.
INSPIRATION
The market also serves as a channel for creativity and inspiration. But for this to happen, one must feel at ease, navigating within an open, reassuring and comfortable environment. Only then is it possible to adopt new ways of thinking, to shift modes of representation. I am thinking, for instance, of the inclusion of women artists in the art market, which was delayed for so long due to the historical dominance of the patriarchy. This is the kind of leverage we could encourage to further open the art market to all. Utopia, as a way of envisioning alternative societal organization, presents another potential source of inspiration.
WELCOMING SPACE
I envision Luxembourg Art Week as a welcoming space for all sorts of novel ideas and concepts, akin to a laboratory...
WORKSHOP OF POSSIBILITIES
...Or rather, as a workshop of possibilities that brings together and facilitates communication among the different sectors of Luxembourg society. As a professional with a systemic and strategic vision, my concern is to identify means of action and find new avenues for work. In other words, it is about grasping the past and the present to collectively reach towards the future. Welcome to this new edition of Luxembourg Art Week!
