Jérôme Konen, Director of Kinneksbond;
Credit: Bohumil Kostohhryz
In an interview with Chronicle.lu, Jérôme Konen, Director of the Kinneksbond cultural centre in Mamer, shared how the centre has been impacted by and adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his hopes and expectations for the new year.
Jérôme Konen, who has been at the helm of Kinneksbond since 2015, explained that the cultural centre was closed from mid-March to September 2020 due to the pandemic. "We could have reopened during the summer [of 2020], but it was too complicated for us to establish a new programme on quite a short notice", Mr Konen explained.
For context, the Luxembourg Government declared a state of emergency in mid-March 2020 following the detection of the first COVID-19 cases and the rapid spread of the virus in the Grand Duchy. Various restrictions were quickly introduced, with schools closed, teleworking increasingly encouraged and eventually, non-essential activities cancelled. At the end of May 2020, restrictions were eased slightly and restaurants, sports and cultural venues were allowed to reopen - albeit under certain conditions (social distancing, restricted numbers, masks, etc.).
Regarding financial support for staff and other activities, Jérôme Konen explained that Kinneksbond had received support from the government under the "Neistart Lëtzebuerg" economic recovery programme. "Thus, part of our losses due to the closure and the crises have been recovered", he said.
Mr Konen added that Kinneksbond had been "able to retain all of [its] team members' jobs". The need also arose to bring in new staff in response to the new COVID-19 measures. "We had to bring in more outside personnel to ensure the implementation of sanitary measures", he noted. "This is an unheard of situation and we had to learn on the job".
Concerning the impact of the government measures (namely regarding the CovidCheck system) which came into effect towards the end of December 2021, Mr Konen explained: "With these new measures, we have revised our front of house arrangements in order to ensure that enough rapid tests can be done on site. We have also decided to implement other measures, such as the obligation to wear a mask and the closure of our bar. This is a loss of conviviality, but we want to make sure our place is as safe as possible".
The interview ended on an optimisitc note, with Jérôme Konen sharing his team's hopes and vision for Kinneksbond in 2022: "Even if the crisis has taught us to be reactive, we hope for a better visibility for 2022, so that our audience can enjoy our seasons as they were designed. The programming of a cultural place is the result of a very long reflection. We hope that the health situation will allow us to enjoy moments of conviviality again, because going to the theatre is not only attending a performance but also a moment of sharing (around a good drink!)".
Kinneksbond cultural centre in Mamer; Credit: Paulo Lobo
