Today on Local Matters, we walk. We put on our gender glasses and join the association Kehsia for a memory walk in Luxembourg-City. The aim is to see how women are portrayed in public spaces. Over the decades and centuries, men have claimed most of the public space for them – squares and street names honour the accomplishments of local politicians, entrepreneurs and artists. Statues depict the merits of generals, kings and Dukes. Women are mostly invisible throughout history – and therefore don’t have their images shown on a city’s townhall square – because public space is shaped by history.
With the project You Are, the Association Kehsia focuses on art in public spaces. The project brings young people from Luxembourg and Italy together to explore how women are depicted in public spaces. In Italy, only 5 percent of all statues are women, Chiara Crosio, one of the project leaders says.
Those statues of women that exist don’t show real historic figures but rather depict the concept of a woman, or the woman as the mother of the nation, as the protector of all fighters, something symbolic. They show women kneeling next to men as their supporters, women nurturing babies or depicted naked. In Luxembourg, the situation for women is slightly better – the most famous statue being a woman who wears a dress.
Nevertheless, the lack of female statues around the city is obvious. The memory walk proposed by Kehsia starts in the garden of the villa Vauban. A dozen young people have joined to participate in the walk, a couple of them who are active participants of the exchange project have prepared short presentations on the female figures we meet during this walk.
The first one is called Nana. The coulourful sculpture is an artwork of the French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle. It shows a joyful woman with wings pouring wine. For one of the participants Brina, this statue is special – being a joyful, vibrant woman. Also the artist impresses
The group walks to the next statue. Through the park to Princess Amalia. She stands on a platform overseeing the water fountain and the freshly planted tulips in the direction of the city centre. Princess Amalia is Luxembourg’s first ever monument honoring a woman. Many people at the time opposed the initiative because she was a woman AND because she wasn’t born into the Grand Ducal family. The City of Luxembourg erected it in 1876. Princess Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was the wife of Prince Henry of the Netherlands. And that’s what she is remembered for – if at all. The statue was erected to honour her dedication to charity and the Luxembourgish people. But the name plaque on the side of the side walk doesn’t say any of this. Just a name.
The walk brings us farther, we pass the crowded Grand Rue, the place Guillame II in front of the townhall and walk towards Luxembourg’s most famous statue- the golden lady. The Monument of Remembrance honours the sacrifices of all the Luxembourgers who volunteered to fight in the for the Allied Powers during both World Wars and the Korean War.
We pass Luxembourg’s favourite Grand Duchess Charlotte’s monument on Place Clairefontaine. And finish the walk in the Grund, next to the river Alzette. Where the mythical figure of Melusina according to the legend jumped into the river because her husband didn’t respect her needs. That’s at least the moral of this story known to every child growing up in Luxembourg.
The walk is part of the larger project You Are, organised by Kehsia. Some of the activities such as this walk are open for the public, others target the young participants such as the trip to Italy.