Minister of culture Sam Tanson (centre) with senior advisor Jo Kox and advisor Catherine Decker, who will preside the new Kultur:LX association. MCULT

Minister of culture Sam Tanson (centre) with senior advisor Jo Kox and advisor Catherine Decker, who will preside the new Kultur:LX association. MCULT

The new association will provide more transparent, professional and structured assistance to the culture sector. It will support tours and exhibitions abroad, promote literary translations, disseminate playwriting, and strengthen Luxembourg’s participation in major cultural events abroad. Exchange programmes and residencies will foster cultural relations and dialogue with other cultures.

Kultur:LX will also take over work previously done by groups like Music:LX, which helps musicians gain traction abroad, Reading Luxembourg, which promotes books and literature.

Minister of culture Sam Tanson (Déi Gréng) chaired a first meeting of the group on Thursday.

The government says the creation of a sort of “arts council” for Luxembourg has been under discussion for years. The not-for-profit will later be succeeded by a public institution bearing the same name. As well as promoting culture abroad, it will assist in developing the careers of artists by allocating grants and identifying new talent.

The new structure will cover the following sectors:

  • Architecture, design, applied arts, crafts;
  • Music;
  • Live performance (dance, theatre, street arts and circus);
  • Literature;Visual and audiovisual arts (visual arts, photography, video);
  • Multimedia and digital arts.

Each cultural field will be treated according to its requirements, says a government press release. The association will establish selection committees--composed of experts and personalities from different artistic fields--that will take decisions on the allocation of aid.

The association is presided by Catherine Decker, an advisor at the ministry of culture, with den Atelier’s Michel Welter serving as vice-president, Tom Théobald from the finance ministry as secretary and author Susanne Jaspers as treasurer. Other members include Kinneksbond general manager Jérôme Konen, choreographer and Trois-CL artistic director Bernard Baumgarten, curator at the CNA Michèle Walerich, Iris Depoulain from the intellectual property office, and Nadine Erpelding and Barbara Zeches from the culture ministry.