Image: Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg. Photo © Lé Siebenaler
Konschthal Esch in Esch-sur-Alzette will present ‘Ruin Echoes’, a large group exhibition curated by Christian Mosar, from 24 October 2026 to 14 February 2027. The show gathers artists from Europe and further afield around a single idea: the ruin.
Rather than treating ruins as objects of nostalgia, the exhibition considers them as places where material, symbolic and political pressures meet. A central thread is entropy, the slow drift towards disorder that wears down buildings, political systems and collective memory alike. Working in film, sculpture, installation and photography, the participating artists look closely at fragmentation, paying attention both to what survives and to what has disappeared. According to the art centre, the show ultimately suggests that a ruin can mark a point of departure as much as an end, leaving room for new stories and visions of the future.
Forty-five artists, duos and collectives take part. Among them are Bernd & Hilla Becher, Gordon Matta-Clark, Lee Miller, Thomas Ruff, Luc Tuymans, Alfredo Jaar, Santiago Sierra, Gregor Schneider, David Claerbout, Hiwa K, Edith Dekyndt, Asta Gröting, Michael Sailstorfer, Gregor Hildebrandt, Carsten Nicolai, Olaf Nicolai and Clemens von Wedemeyer. The list also includes Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Ewald Mataré, Karl-Heinz Adler, Klaus Staeck, Filip Markiewicz, Radenko Milak, Maya Schweizer, Zuza Golińska, Recycle Group, and the duo Julian Rosefeldt and Piero Steinle.
The image chosen to announce the exhibition is a black-and-white photograph of a burning church spire by Lé Siebenaler, held by the Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg. Siebenaler is also one of the exhibiting artists.
The exhibition begins with an opening evening organised together with De Gudde Wëllen, with free entry. After the speeches, Luc Feit, Martin Engler and Christian Bader give a performance reading of ‘Der Untergang’, based on Erich Nossack’s autobiographical essay of 1943, followed by a DJ set by Rice Krispie that runs until midnight. The same evening also launches ‘Graue Strömung (Hydro)’ in the art centre’s project room.
‘Ruin Echoes’ is supported by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture.
