Luxembourg & Saarland Strengthen Cultural Cooperation

Luxembourg's Ministry of Culture recently announced the signature of an agreement on objectives between Saarland (Germany) and the Grand Duchy.

Luxembourg's Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, together with Saarland's Minister of Education and Culture, Christine Streichert-Clivot, signed a convention on Wednesday 27 November 2024 to strengthen cultural cooperation between Saarland and Luxembourg, to promote the community, to support exchanges and to create new common perspectives.

Minister Streichert-Clivot said: "Cultural cooperation between Saarland and Luxembourg has a long tradition. With this agreement on objectives, we are giving it new dynamics. Together, we are building bridges that enrich our two regions culturally and humanly and we are sending a clear signal in favour of cross-border cultural work".

Minister Thill underlined the importance of the agreement stating it was an "important sign for cross-border cooperation and cultural dialogue not only between Saarland and Luxembourg", but also "its potential for cultural actors in the Greater Region as a whole, where the themes and challenges are of a very similar nature".

The three-year agreement creates a framework for closer cooperation, both to highlight existing projects and to stimulate and encourage other initiatives and cooperations that support the exchange between artists and cultural actors, which are more aimed at the public. The focus is to further strengthen cultural ties between the two neighbouring regions and to open new perspectives.

The key points of the convention are:

- Promoting existing and new initiatives: highlighting existing cultural projects and stimulating new cooperation;

- Promoting mobility: intensifying exchanges between artists, but also between cultural institutions and organisations;

- Networking and communication: developing networking and improving communication;

- Strengthening participation: actively integrating cross-border cultural institutions into exchanges, particularly those with recognised expertise in cross-border activities;

- Cultural mediation: promoting understanding of the respective and common culture in everyday life.

To plan and implement these points, regular meetings are planned between the respective ministries of culture, which will focus on certain thematic priorities, such as cultural education, networking of the independent scene, promotion of cooperation in the Greater Region, visibility of cultural heritage, etc.

Luxembourg's Ministry of Culture reported that the agreement on objectives between Saarland and Luxembourg underlines the importance of culture as a unifying element in the Greater Region and as a source of impetus for a European identity.