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

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

For one day, we invite you to discover a favourite industrial site.
This autumn, the CNCI team is taking you to Lorraine to discover the Hussigny-Godbrange mine.

The detailed programme will be announced shortly !

In collaboration with La Mine d’Hussigny-Godbrange