The Half-Life of Steel by Stefan Krebs
| When |
– |
| What | General public Talks |
| Where | DH Lab, First Floor, Maison des Sciences Humaines, Esch-Belval |
| Related exhibition | Dodeka: 12 Works for 12 Cantons |
| Access | Free |
| Booking required | a.wester@mudam.com |
As part of Dodeka, historian Stefan Krebs reflects on the long-term economic, social and cultural consequences of deindustrialisation in southern Luxembourg. The lecture takes place in Esch-Belval, a site still marked by the legacy of the former steelworks, and unfolds in dialogue with Michel Majerus’s Halbzeit (2002), on view at the Luxembourg Learning Centre.
Majerus’ painting takes its title from the brief interval of half-time: a pause in which one form of attention gives way to another. Stefan Krebs sets against this the “half-life” of deindustrialisation — not a single moment of closure, but a residue that continues to shape work, memory and landscape in the Minett long after the last tap. Whereas Halbzeit compresses time into a commercial interval, the half-life of steel is measured in generations, reused halls and unfinished conversions.
Biography
Stefan Krebs is a historian and researcher at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg. His work focuses on industrial history, deindustrialisation, and the history of technology, with a particular interest in Luxembourg’s industrial past.
