Broken Secrets Exhibition to Open at Neimënster

The "Broken Secrets" exhibition, offered by the European platform Parallel, will be open to the public at Neumünster Abbey (neimënster) in Luxembourg-Grund from 12 June to 11 July 2021.

Broken Secrets lifts the veil on the various aspects of secrecy. Four young photographers, Georgs Avetisjans, Yuxin Jiang, George Selley and Negar Yaghmaian, explore the way secrets are confided and kept, revelation or even the feelings buried within us when the truth comes to light.

A very personal vision of truth and lies, Broken Secrets also embraces broader issues related to militarism, migration and oppression, themes in which reality is updated to reveal the secrets of everyday life. 

The photogtaphers detail the different aspects of secrets: the stories integrated into their works tell mysteries, keep them or reveal them in broad daylight, sometimes brutally.

In the age of fake news, Broken Secrets takes the time to expose historical events and contemporary narratives to explore mistrust and deception. The project reveals political operations supposed to remain secret and sheds light on the clandestine movements they generate. For instance, Georgs Avetisjans' "Motherland. Far Beyond the Polar Circle" project (Riga, 1985) was born following the experience of the artist's grandmother, who was deported to Siberia in 1941. Based on secret archive documents, family albums and oral accounts, it brings to light a past long hidden, reconstructing his own family history and paying homage to the victims of Stalinism.

George Selley's work "Human Exploitation" (London, 1993) is a collage made from excerpts from the United States (US) Army training manual and images of Latin America, produced by two American geographers of the 20th century. Through his work, he denounces the manipulation of young soldiers, sent to the front line to perpetrate crimes.

The works of Negar Yaghmaian (Tehran, 1984) reconstruct the unpublished accounts of families who have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, on the trade routes between Africa, India and Asia.

Finally, Yuxin Jiang (Shanghai, 1987) guides us through the present with works inspired by clichés of Chinese society, helping to deconstruct them and disorient the public.

Curator Javiera Luisina Cádiz Bedini was responsible for the design of the exhibition. Originally from Santiago in Chile, she grew up in Argentina and South Africa. After studying art history at the University of Barcelona and graduating from the Universities of Siena (Italy) and Cape Town (South Africa), Javiera Luisina Cádiz Bedini obtained several scholarships, such as the Erasmus Mundus SAPIENT Prize, and holds a scholarship from her current university, where she is also conducting a Masters in Women's Studies. Her research and work focuses on the linked histories of art and resistance in Africa, Europe and Latin America and focuses on the conservation of contemporary artistic and performative practices and productions.

Broken Secrets will run from 12 June to 11 July 2021, with the opening scheduled for the evening of 11 June 2021. The exhibition is open to the public in the vaulted rooms at neimënster every day from 10:00 to 18:00. Entry is free.