Organizer Information
neimënster — the Neumünster Abbey Cultural Exchange Centre — occupies a former Benedictine abbey in the Grund district of Luxembourg City, within a site classified as UNESCO World Heritage. The original Benedictine abbey was destroyed in 1542, after which the monks rebuilt on the Neumünster site, with the abbey later destroyed again during the 1684 Siege of Luxembourg and rebuilt from 1688. Over the centuries the complex served as a military hospital and, later, a prison for male inmates until 1980. Following more than ten years of restoration, the Neumünster Abbey Cultural Exchange Center was inaugurated in May 2004 and has since operated as a public cultural centre whose purpose is to strengthen Luxembourg's cultural identity and promote intercultural dialogue. Within its 12,000 square metres, around 700 events are organised each year, and the centre offers residencies across a wide range of disciplines, including visual arts, dance, composition, literature, performing arts, and music, built around a central notion of dialogue between art forms and cultures.
Title & Description
Neimënster: Résidences Land Art
neimënster is opening its parvis (courtyard) to artistic proposals that use natural, organic, and/or ephemeral materials, inviting visual artists, designers, and set designers to apply for a four-week residency running from October to November 2026. The residency spans land art and ephemeral sculpture practices. Selected projects will be produced on-site and then remain on public display on the parvis from December through February 2027, meaning the work must be conceived to withstand outdoor exposure through a Luxembourg winter.
Theme
Artists are free to choose their own theme, though proposals should preferably align with neimënster's values. The residency's material and ecological framework is fixed: works must use biodegradable, non-toxic materials, preferably sourced from recovery and/or recycling.
Categories
- Land Art
- Sculpture
- Installation
- Site-specific
- Design
- Environment
- Residency
- Visual Arts
Eligibility
- Open to visual artists, designers, and set designers
- Proposals must use natural, organic, and/or ephemeral materials that are biodegradable and non-toxic, preferably sourced from recovery and/or recycling
- Proposed works must be designed to withstand exposure to wind and the elements of the Luxembourg winter
- Anything created inside the studio must account for the studio doors' fixed opening dimensions (90 cm x 200 cm)
Program Benefits & Awards
- Research residency grant of €4,000, awarded per selected project
- Additional production grant of €2,000 for a two-week creation/installation period, if the project is selected to proceed
- Additional production budget tailored to the specific needs of the selected project, determined based on project details
- Installation costs covered by neimënster
- A 40 m² studio with a maximum ceiling height of 3 m
- Housing provided, if necessary
- Logistical and technical support during installation, provided by a member of the neimënster team
- Visibility through neimënster's communication channels (media, social media, etc.)
- Indoor workspace made available throughout the residency, even though creation and installation take place outdoors
- Public display of the completed work on the parvis from December 2026 through February 2027
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Email application to: residence@neimenster.lu
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 26 July 2026
- Selected Project Leaders Notified: by end of August 2026
- Research Residency Period: 19 October – 14 November 2026 (four weeks)
- Public Display Period: December 2026 – February 2027
Location
neimënster, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Additional Details
- Evaluation criteria: originality and innovation; technical feasibility and compliance with ecological constraints; alignment with the event's environmental values; alignment with neimënster's values
- The four-week period is a research residency; the two-week creation/installation period, with its accompanying €2,000 grant, is contingent on the project being selected to proceed
- Studio access is subject to fixed door dimensions of 90 cm x 200 cm, which any object created inside must be able to pass through