Echoing Ben Greber’s Green Machine exhibition, the IK-CNCI is looking at artistic practice as a tool for constructing the memory of industrial culture.

Through meetings and workshops, artists from different disciplines will be on hand to share their views on heritage and industrial culture with audiences of all ages.

As part of the series of Takeover Thursday evenings organised by the Konschthal

Konschthal Esch, Takeover Thursday – La Fabrique à mémoire, 2024 © Pancake!

Filmed in Lorraine and Luxembourg, L’Usine secrète takes an empathetic and powerful look at the steel industry and the mines, showing the little-known underside of this special world: autonomy, humour, resourcefulness, mowing, tinkering, alcohol and mutual aid. How did steelworkers and miners bond? How did they get past the guards to get out of the equipment? How did you manage to “tinker” with things on site that you could then take back home or to your garden? How did people take liberties with the rules? And what happened over time to this well-known but little-told story of workers’ autonomy? Ultimately, what was the point of these systems of transgression?

L’Usine secrète (The Secret Factory) paints an original and unusual portrait of the working world and its changes over 50 years. It’s one of those rare documentaries that deals with serious subjects but treats them with humour, so it can also appeal to “young people”… because autonomy in the workplace is a universal theme.

4pm: Screening at the CNA
6pm: Debate with director Emmanuel Graff at VEWA

In collaboration with CNA , VEWA and DKollektiv

This project was launched as part of the European Capital of Culture Esch2022

With eXplorations, the CNCI team invites you to discover (with friends or family) various sites linked to our region’s industrial heritage. Over the course of a day, we’ll explore new sites together, following in the footsteps of our industrial past.

For this 1st event, the CNCI invites you to discover the 4MH – Musée Minier et Métallurgique de Musson-Halanzy (Belgium).

Programme for eXploration #1 :
9:30   – Departure by bus from Esch-sur-Alzette*
10:15  – Arrival at 4MH
10:30 – Departure for the hike – guided walk to the mining site
13:00 – Lunch at 4MH
14:00 – Guided tour of the museum
16:45 – Departure by bus from 4MH
17:30 – Return to Esch-sur-Alzette* by bus

Prices: 30€ > 16 years old | 20€ < 16 years old (price includes museum entrance and meal)
From age 7
Visit in French
Not accessible to PRM
Limited places

INFO + RESERVATIONS : info@cnci.lu

Ahead of the theatrical saga Leurs enfants après eux (Their Children After Them), we invite you to a reading in the presence of author Nicolas Mathieu, followed by a discussion. This will be followed by an evening of working-class dancing, with a band, a dance hall and plenty to eat.

In collaboration with Esch Theater, FerroForum and IK-CNCI

at FerroForum
at 7pm

Free admission on reservation

CNCI wants to help children discover our industrial heritage by organising the MINI SCHMELZ summerschool from 16 to 19 July 2024.
For one week, the young participants will slip into the shoes of a factory worker. Each day they will put on their overalls, clock in and out and travel by bus to a different partner location to learn about the work of mine and factory workers: from extracting the ore through blast furnace operation to ironmaking. The world of Schmelz will hold no secrets for these young apprentices.

Price: €120 (meal not included)
Timetable: 9.30am to 5pm
For children aged 8 to 11
Limited places

INFO + REGISTRATION: lorena.jarosz@cnci.lu