Michel Simonis, Director General of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Georges Mischo, Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, Marianne Donven, Head of Hariko Esch, Gilles Dhamen, Director of Solidarity Activities of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Marc Crochet, Deputy Director General of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Pim Knaff, Deputy Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, at the inauguration of Hariko Esch on 27 September 2018 Luxembourg Red Cross

Michel Simonis, Director General of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Georges Mischo, Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, Marianne Donven, Head of Hariko Esch, Gilles Dhamen, Director of Solidarity Activities of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Marc Crochet, Deputy Director General of the Luxembourg Red Cross, Pim Knaff, Deputy Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette, at the inauguration of Hariko Esch on 27 September 2018 Luxembourg Red Cross

Inspired by Bronx regeneration project “The Gramsci Monument”, Hariko was founded in 2015 at a former warehouse in Bonnevoie as an outreach service to offer cultural activities and “help young people open up”.

The project provided rent-free space to around 30 artists and musicians in exchange for which tenants offered free workshops to young people.

The building was recently sold, forcing Hariko to hunt for a new home. Their call for help did not go unheeded and the City of Esch-sur-Alzette proposed 5 rue de l’Eglise. This will be a temporary location until the project moves to the Justice de la Paix building in place Brill.

Hariko is today established under the auspices of the Luxembourg Red Cross and was for several years funded by charitable funding body Oeuvre.  

Its mission remains unchanged--to offer intercultural encounters and exchanges to people aged 12 to 26 by offering free creative workshops, ranging from guitar and graffiti to sewing and singing. It currently works with artists including Aude Legrand, Lucie Majerus, Uyi Nosa-Odia, Reiny Rizzy, Sader (Olivier Potozec), Stick, Maïté Schmit, Alejandra Solar, Tohid Tohidiet and Victor Tricar.

Last year it offered over 760 workshops in 24 different artistic disciplines, and recorded 2,209 visits from young people.