GAST Luxemburg

Moien, bonjour, and welcome to Vienna! Luxembourg is participating as GAST at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. Organized by Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg in collaboration with Design Luxembourg, the national association representing designers, this is a major showcase outside the Grand Duchy to highlight the country’s creative scene. Beyond the central exhibition TWO-O-EIGHT – DESIGNING VOICES, Luxembourg’s presence as a guest brings Luxembourgish perspectives to the various festival formats and, through a rich supporting program, literally gives a voice to both emerging and established players in the local design scene.

Across all formats, the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK has also invited Luxembourgish designers, who are a central part of this year’s festival through their participation in the formats Passionswege (Christophe de la Fontaine), Debut (Lycée des Arts et Métiers), and PLATFORM (Subtile, Tatiana Bifouri).

TWO-O-EIGHT – DESIGNING VOICES

What does a design scene actually sound like? Curated by Anna Loporcaro in collaboration with Design Luxembourg, the exhibition transforms the Festival Headquarters into a radio agora. Its title refers to the historic medium-wave frequency of Radio Luxembourg: 208 metres. The exhibition puts voices and stories centre stage.

In podcasts produced together with Radio 100,7, around 30 designers discuss graphic and product design, collectible and social design, sound, history, and international developments. The scenography by Rachel Hoffmann (Studio Abricot) creates a space for individual listening – complete with its own radio studio for live conversations during the festival.

PLEASE LISTEN

There’s even more to hear in the Listening Sessions. Sophie Krier explores the practice of radio-making itself, while Selling Happiness, Shaping Minds – A Radio Luxembourg Story delves into the history of the legendary broadcaster.

With ECOTONALITIES – ON AIR, the landscape of Luxembourg itself becomes audible: field recordings of data centres, forests, energy infrastructure, and artificial lakes tell the story of how ecological and digital developments are transforming the country. The piece by Ludwig Berger was created for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale and will be presented in Vienna in an extended version.

ON AIR!

And if you’re going to have a radio studio, you might as well do it properly: During the festival, Luxembourgish designers meet colleagues and long-time companions from Austria. Christophe de la Fontaine talks to Wolfgang Köchert, Nadine Clemens (Design Luxembourg) to Elli Schindler & Christian Schöttel (designaustria), Annick Kieffer (Studio Polenta) to Jana Frantal and Hilal Avci (SIRENE Studio), Julie Conrad to Peter Umgeher (Vandasye), Rachel Hoffmann to Gabriel Roland, Lynn Harles to Sithara Pathirana, and Sarah Meyers (Meyers & Fügmann) to Alice Jacubasch. There will also be a session with Anna Valentiny.

LUXEMBOURG MEETS VIENNA

But GAST extends well beyond the Festival Headquarters. As part of Passionswege, Luxembourgish designer Christophe de la Fontaine at A. E. Köchert develops a new perspective on haute joaillerie with UNIFORM. At Debüt, the Lycée des Arts et Métiers, Luxembourg’s oldest public secondary school and the only one with a focus on arts and crafts, brings the next generation to Vienna.

And PLATFORM is getting a Luxembourgish touch too: With Subtile and Tatiana Bifouri, further positions from the Grand Duchy can be discovered across the festival. In this way, GAST becomes more than a self-contained national showcase – it creates an exchange between scenes, generations, and disciplines.