“Culture Fabrique” is a tailor-made project that can be adapted for other cultural institutions: museums, heritage libraries, archives, cultural venues with a strong historical identity…

“Culture Fabrique” — A Participatory Documentary Creation

Bringing a century of Archives back to Life

“Culture Fabrique” is a documentary creation designed by the company La Bande Passante to celebrate the 40+1 years of the Kulturfabrik in Esch-sur-Alzette, an iconic cultural venue in Luxembourg.

This unique project highlights a collection of nearly 6,000 documents, in which the company’s artists immersed themselves for several weeks.

We selected nearly 850 archives that we printed and then cut out with almost 50 participants. These cutouts were then meticulously assembled into three-dimensional collages on 3 tables, each about ten meters long, to tell the singular History of this cultural venue with its strong identity—from the construction of the slaughterhouses in 1934 to a collective imaginary projection for 2034.

The various scenes of the installation are enhanced by moving lights and interviews with the people who shaped the history of this place, all accompanied by an immersive musical atmosphere (Them Lights), offering a spectacular and poetic dimension to documents from the past.

A Participatory and Collaborative Creation

“Culture Fabrique” is based on a collaborative approach involving:

• Residents and users (about fifty participants):
  • Sharing memories and testimonials.
  • Participation in workshops for cutting and handling the archives.
• La Bande Passante artists (Tommy Laszlo, Judith Chomel, Benoit Faivre):
  • who guide the participants through their experience in documentary creation.
  • who organize the staging of the archives with a poetic and technical approach.

This co-creation breathes new life into the archives and strengthens the bond between the venue and its community.

A Visual and Sonic Immersion

The installation “Culture Fabrique” offers a rich visual and sonic experience:

• Three-dimensional collages of cut-out archives
• Shifting light displays
• Broadcast of audio testimonials
• Original musical creation in multi-channel diffusion

« A visual, sonic, and immersive installation, inviting a poetic journey. » — Le Quotidien (LU)

A Documentary Creation in Three Tables/Tableaux: 1934 – 2034

This installation consists of three-dimensional collages of carefully cut-out archives, assembled on tables measuring about ten meters each. Each tableau covers a distinct period of the Kulturfabrik’s history and showcases the evolution of the site through historical documents and visual records.

Table/Tableau 1: 1934 – 1996 — From Slaughterhouses to Cultural Squat

This first scene traces the evolution of the slaughterhouses from their construction in 1934 to their transformation into an artistic squat in the 1980s and the reopening in 1996. The collages illustrate original blueprints, testimonials from the first occupants, and the struggles to save the site.

« Seeing the site and the radical change of purpose the place has taken, I find it wonderful. »

Table/Tableau 2: 1996 – 2016 — Festivals and Cultural Effervescence

The second scene illustrates the cultural effervescence of the twenty years following the reopening of the Kulturfabrik in 1996. The collages feature iconic festivals (Flamenco, Afrique, Clown In Progress), concerts, and collective activities that brought the venue to life.

« The Kulturfabrik is a cultural UFO with an atypical way of working and eclectic programming. »

Table/Tableau 3: 2017 – 2034 — Reinvention and Vision of the Future

The third scene covers the reflections born from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Kulturfabrik’s new directions toward becoming an “artistic factory.” It presents initiatives like the Summer Bar, participatory projects, and future visions imagined by residents for a green and inclusive Kulturfabrik in 2034.

« The Kulturfabrik returns to the people, returns to the artists. »