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Regards Croisés | Alone at last – says who?

When

With

Justine Blau + Thierry Helminger

Language

French

Fee

Free

Limited admission

Subject to modification or cancellation

Booking required

Fully booked!

Face mask mandatory

Physical distancing must be respected

Regards Croisés
A cycle of discussions in the exhibition spaces in front of the works

Mudam invites people from a wide variety of fields to take a personal look at the exhibitions at Mudam. The conference/visit is followed by a convivial moment of discussion.

Visual artist Justine Blau and biologist Thierry Helminger ask themselves who is saying ‘alone at last’? Are these really plants, or are we humans the ones who put these words into their mouths? Are the plants really alone? Without interaction with other beings? Who is looking after them then? Can we, humans, leave plants alone? And do they care at all?

Justine Blau (1977, Luxembourg) is a visual artist following a multidisciplinary approach. Her art deals with the concept of Elsewhere (provided such a place still exists on Earth). She studied plastic arts at the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg, before receiving a master’s in sculpture at Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London (2008). The artist has also conducted extensive research on photography’s role in our complex world. In her recent work, she has been dealing with ontological questions on man’s relationship to nature, the screen and the living world. Recent exhibitions and projects include: Vida inerte, Centre d’Art Nei Liicht, Dudelange (2020), Reanimation, Ein Fenster inmitten der Welt, Murrhardt (2019), Résidence Cité internationale des Arts, Paris (2018–19), Paysages recomposés, Prieuré du Pont-Loup, Moret-sur-Loing (2018) and Prix d’Art Robert Schuman, Metz (2018).

Thierry Helminger (1965, Luxembourg) is a biologist and botanist. He studied biology at the Centre universitaire (1984–85) and at Saarland University (1985–90). From 1990 to 1991, Helminger worked at the Herbarium of the Natural History Museum in Luxembourg. During a research scholarship, he then studied the bramble species and their repartition in Luxembourg. From 1993 to 2000 he contributed to the creation of the Kirchberg Arboretum for the Fonds d'urbanisation et d'aménagement du plateau de Kirchberg. Since 2001, Helminger has been working at the Natural History Museum, where he is responsible for the Kirchberg Arboretum and the collection of living plants. He is also in charge of the botany section of the Natural History Museum since 2017. Helminger is also the coordinator of the editorial committee of Ferrantia, the scientific publication of the museum. He has contributed to a number of exhibitions of the Natural History Museum (Aiszäit, 2004–5; Knackig Frisch – Genuss aus dem Gemüsegarten, 2006; Evolution, 2009–10; Bësch-Welt, 2012; Complete Renewal of the permanent exhibitions, 2013–16).

Dr. Conrad Theodore Green, "Agaricus Sylvaticus (Blushing Wood Mushroom)", before 1930
© Courtesy Archive of Modern Conflict