MuseoMag: MuseoMag 2016_02

MuseoMag 2016_02

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Title:: MuseoMag

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Title:: MuseoMag 2016_02

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Title:: Discussing language with teenagers in the museum?: Workshop "Moien ! Hallo ! Salut ! Olà #Quelle Langue ?"

22 museomag 02 ‘ 2016 During the two weeks that comprise «Experience Musée» (between February 1-19, 2016), lycée classes from the whole country visit the museums of Luxembourg city, who devise special programmes for them. This year, at the Musée Dräi Eechelen, we used The Borders of the Independence. Luxembourg between 1815 and 1839, an exhibition on the history of the creation and independence of the Grand-Duchy. As it addresses questions of identity and of alterity or otherness, we prepared a visit followed by a debate for students and teachers. It begins with a thematic visit that also provides the opportunity to come face to face with the exhibition’s awe-inspiring exhibits, such as the 200-year-old original of the Final Act of the Vienna Congress or Jean-Baptiste Fresez’s portraits. The first and most impressive exhibit however does not even belong to the exhibition. It is impossible to miss, as it hovers very visibly over the permanent collection. Students know very well what the guillotine was used for, even if the historical background is a bit sketchy. We often begin our visits at the guillotine, as it stands for the period of the Napoleonic invasions that precedes the exhibition’s timeframe and theme: Luxembourg’s becoming, from the moment the European powers created the Grand-Duchy in 1815 at the Vienna Congress, until European powers decided once more, in 1839, that it was to remain independent and not to be part of the newly created Kingdom of Belgium. Over the ensuing 100 years, Luxembourg’s national identity would develop, complementing the previous more regional sense of belonging. but hoW does this relate to teen- agers? Will they be interested? Looking at the concepts that underpin the exhibition, truly philosophical questions arise. What is our identity? How does multilinguism fit into that? Does it affect the prevailing culture(s) in this very small country? What happens when people are constantly translating, namely themselves? What did and do the borders of the Grand-Duchy represent? Does it somehow embody Europe and its variety? We addressed these questions with the different groups of students. As any class that turned up so far represents at least five different mother tongues, sometimes as many as nine, these topics are reflected almost daily in their lives. They know of them and have a lot to say about them too. Portuguese actor Fábio Godinho, who grew up in Luxembourg and now works and lives both here and discussing language With teenagers in the museum? WorKshop “moien! hallo! salut! olá #Quelle langue?” © éric chenal Let’s sit down and cross borders.

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