Eldorado

Eldorado: a search
“Eldorado” is first of all an adventure, the search of a treasure, that of imagination:
“A museum as ideal dwelling place. An undetermined space devoted to the imaginary through an interactive relationship between architecture, interior spaces and a historical site, and which plays out the functionalities, uses and conventions that govern the representation of art, its definitions, its observation and certainly the entirety of its experiences.The exhibition stirs up the works, and therein lies its true value“ (Jean-Louis Froment, for the exhibition catalogue “Eldorado”).
“Eldorado” is supported by all these - artists, art lovers, key figures from the cultural and political scene - who, for the last fifteen years, have worked towards the museum project in Luxembourg, seeing the light of day. The exhibition invites the public to discover the venue “from the cellar to the attic” where around sixty artists have contributed, and to participate, each in an individual way, in this creation and in this development of a place of dreams and desires that Mudam represents.

Eldorado: a poetic distance
The exhibition covers many facets of expression which artists are currently using: photography, painting, drawing, video, new media, fashion, design, graphics, sound, architecture, sculpture. It shows the relationships that the different techniques have with each other and displays their coherence and how they complement each other in relation to themes that the artists transpose in their contemporary works. Mudam keeps a close eye on changes in these practices as part of its duty. Art is the expression of a poetic distance from the world, going beyond the tools which are used - the question of technique no longer matters:
“It is through that same polyphony where all artistic sonorities simultaneously merge the moment they are brought forth that these objects present the inaugural history of the museum“(Jean-Louis Froment, for the exhibition catalogue “Eldorado”).

Eldorado: the taste of art
The museum offers visitors many different experiences, not only things to see, but also to hear, to ponder, to feel and to taste. The aim is to pass on to those who adventure into the exhibition in the search for their own Eldorado, a taste of art: an art which they can take with them into their daily lives.

Eldorado: a scenario
Mudam wants to break the classic contract to which the visitor is too often tied during their museum visit. As soon as visitors enter the reception, they are invited to leave their “baggage” and let themselves be seduced by the diversity of what is on offer, spread over the three levels of the building: everyone’s visit is personal.

Eldorado: an architect
The architect, Ieoh Ming Pei, organised the 4.800 m2 of exhibition area over three levels. Modernist, his architecture, with geometric shapes, pure and monumental, is conceived in a manner which offers an ideal space to present works and artistic interventions. Pei does not attempt to dominate art, but rather tries to direct visitors towards contemplating the works: through his choice in materials; by the use of light adapted to different uses, and which differs from one floor to the next, and even from one room to another; and through sound which inspires visitors during their route through the different exhibition rooms. He thinks that movement is very important, and so he has created a building in which the visitor can choose his own route freely. This stroll around is all the more fluid due to the spaces and floors being linked up by the many stairways and intersections.

Eldorado: an adventure
Level 0: “Seduction” is the key word right from the entrance. Surrounding the notions of conviviality, deconditioning, community, roots and education, the museum displays works which can be monumental, or totally intimate, calling attention to the exhibition spaces. Level 1: Focusing on the specific questions about the steps an artist takes, that’s to say, a painter, the collection pieces are arranged with the works of the guest artists, invited by the curator.
Level -1: From the auditorium to the galleries, the moving image, through new technologies and the history of cinema, this level reveals some exceptional and rare works, which nourish the soul of those who dare adventure there.