BRAND LUXEMBOURG
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COVER STORY
Text by DUNCAN ROBERTS
Photography by JULIEN BECKER & MIKE ZENARI
In the midst of the LuxLeaks storm and preparations for Luxembourg’s presidency of the European Union in the latter half of 2015, the government’s initiative to create a strong brand image for the Grand Duchy is more challenging and urgent than ever.
CULTURAL AMBASSADORS Talented artists from Luxembourg have been earning critical acclaim abroad: how do they represent the country and in today’s global village does it matter that they come from the Grand Duchy?
W
hen Luxembourg co-production Mr. Hublot won the Academy Award for best animated short film at the Oscar’s ceremony earlier this year, the whole country took pride in the achievement of writer and co-director Laurent Witz and his team. Speaking shortly after Witz returned to the Grand Duchy with the gold statuette, the director of the Luxembourg Film Fund, Guy Daleiden said he thought Luxembourg should strike while the iron was still hot and use the award to showcase the country’s innovation and creativity. “We can use this to show that Luxembourg is much more than the financial services industry. To show that there is something different going on. Everyone knows what an Oscar is,”
Winter 2015
he said. And, indeed, a recent trade mission to South Korea and Japan did include Daleiden leading a delegation of representatives from the local animation industry. Daleiden said he was pleasantly surprised by how much industry professionals in Asia knew about the Luxembourg animation sector thanks to Mr. Hublot and a nomination in the animated feature category for another co-production, Ernest & Célestine. Elsewhere around the globe, from Beijing to the Nevada desert via Berlin and Paris, Luxembourg artists are attracting huge audiences. Sun Glitters, Luxembourg-born electronica music artist Victor Ferreira, has just played three shows in China. Acclaimed by critics writing for the likes of Dazed & Confused, the BBC, Pitchfork and The Guardian, Sun Glitters is earning a reputation as a pioneer of ambient glitch. He loves to travel and tell people about the Grand Duchy. “They have never heard that Luxembourg has a music scene, so I am creating some interest,” he says. And he helps local artists that
he admires reach a broader audience by regularly posting their music via social media. Jazz vibraphone player Pascal Schumacher--Luxembourg’s most successful music export of 2012 according to promotion platform MusicLX--has performed in Berlin and other major European cities before setting off in early 2015 for another tour of Japan, where he is becoming increasingly popular. In 2014, classical pianist Jean Muller this year has played in prestigious halls in Paris, Warsaw, London, Mexico and even New York’s Carnegie Hall.
TANGIBLE EFFORT This is the sort of opportunity that could be taken advantage of in the same manner as Mr. Hublot’s success. But are the artists even conscious that they are representing Luxembourg? And can their success abroad really be harnessed into something tangible that could be used as part of the government’s renewed nation branding effort? Magician David Goldrake says he was not fully aware of playing such a