The University of Luxembourg’s Temporary History Lab invites visitors from the Greater Region to participate in the history of the southern Minett region. Located in Annexe22 in Esch-sur-Alzette, the Lab will host various activities from 26 September to 23 October.
The Temporary History Lab can be visited free of charge and is part of the Esch2022 European Capital of Culture programme. Created by the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), it invites visitors of all ages and occupations to take part in the history of the Minett and its residents.
Historians are interested in visitors’ impressions, memories, and experiences, which will be collected through audiovisual activities and documentation. The identity of the Minett residents is explored in workshops on self-portraits and audio recordings.
In addition, visitors can explore how the region changed through the decades, through the video installation “Escher Voices”, exhibitions and historical city tours.
The Temporary History Lab is located in Annnexe22, Place de la Résistance (Brillplaz) in Esch-sur-Alzette, and is open until 23 October from 10.00 to 17.00.
Press Kit (PDF)
Location:
Annexe22
Place de la Résistance (Brillplaz)
Esch-sur-Alzette
Opening times:
Temporary History Lab
Wed-Sun: 10.00–17.00
Video installation
Wed-Sun: 17.00–22.00
Programme
30.9-23.10 Crowdsourcing Historical Documents
In our temporary history lab, we collect and digitise your stories and documents. We are interested in your personal memories, which we would like to document and investigate for our project by conducting oral history interviews with you. Your personal documents and photos (from school photos to employment contracts) can also tell interesting stories. We would love to look at them with you and record and digitise them in our history workshop. We will incorporate selected interviews and documents in our research and display them in our large-scale history exhibition in 2022. Contact us!
26.9-23.10 Video Installation: Historical Voices from the Minett
Our video installation features several personal stories related to the past and present of the Minett. Based upon existing and new historical research, the stories have been written by a team of historians and anthropologists to highlight various aspects of life in and around Esch-sur-Alzette throughout the 20th century. As such, the video installation deals with timeless themes such as wartime suffering, migration, labour, health and human creativity. The spoken stories are accompanied by images taken from various local archives, some of which have never been shown in public before. Aimed at a broad audience and covering multiple languages spoken in the Minett, the video is sure to resonate with both locals and foreign visitors. Come to Annexe22 in the evening and let yourself be transported back to the past!
26-27.9 Become Your Own Photo Portraitist! & 26.9-4.10 Exhibition: Photographic (Self-)Portraits
In our history lab, take photos of how you would like to remember yourself and your family. We will be installing an analogue camera with a remote release. At the push of a button, you can become an active part of historical work to explore the past and present of the region, community and identity.
The self-portrait campaign is accompanied by a photo exhibition that gives an insight into the history of the photographic portrait. Pictures of people in huge industrial complexes contrast with impressions of everyday life in the Minett and increasing attention to the “ordinary”.
The photos will be archived by us and thus become part of local historiography. Selected self-portraits will also be shown from 21 to 23 October in Annexe22. During this time, you can also pick up a copy of your photo.
10-11.10 Escher Sound Postcards. Be Part of an Encounter Between Past, Present and Future & 10-18.10 Exhibition: Escher Sound Postcards
Choose from a selection of unique and recordable postcards, each showing an historical image from the Minett! Record your two-minute message, poem or song by means of a vintage Cartavox sound postcard recording machine from 1957. We will send it to you through the post. Your sound postcard can be listened to on any vinyl record player or via a digital version we will make for you.
Between 10 and 18 October all the sound postcards recorded by our visitors will be displayed in a special exhibition in the history lab. Here you will be able to play a selection of sound postcards on turntables and listen not just to your own message but also to messages by other people (perhaps you might even recognise somebody you know!).
In this workshop, current reflections on the past, present and future of the region mingle with each other and are interlinked with images and technologies of the past. This special collection of sound postcards, containing all your personal recordings, will be archived and thus preserved for future listeners.
10-11.10 Historical City Walks
The authors of the Guide historique et architectural Esch-sur-Alzette guide you through the town of Esch and its surroundings, focusing on various historical topics. Tours last approx. 90 minutes, registration required: contact Audrey Sapet, email: historylab@uni.lu, telephone: +352-46 66 44 9809
21-23.10 Exhibition: Escher Self-Portraits
Over the final three days of the history lab we will show a selection of photos from our self-portrait event (26-27 September) in Annexe22. During this time, you can also collect a print of your photo.