Art and craft trades Art and craft work go hand in hand in the Grand Duchy

The first edition of De Mains de Maîtres was held in December 2016. The first exhibition was a great success, and in May 2017 Her Royal Highness Princess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, the Chamber of Trades, the BCEE national savings bank, and Mr Roland Kuhn created a not-for-profit association to promote the art and craft trades, with a view to organising further editions of the biennial event.

The second edition was held in November 2018, again at 19 Liberté in Luxembourg City. This time the event had even more exhibition space, and this time it included a display of photographs on the theme of art and craft trades from the BCEE's collection. New partners, including the "d'stater muséeën" and a number of galleries and artists, expanded the event's possibilities by seeking out new viewpoints for visitors.

The artists and craftspeople selected for the  De Mains de Maîtres  biennial event are able not only to benefit from the  international fame  of the project, but also to showcase their work according to a  specific theme.  And they may be lucky enough that it is their creation that wins once of the  prizes.

Internationally, the artists featured at the 2016 edition exhibited at the end of 2017 at Luxembourg's embassy in Brussels and at the Lin Deletaille Gallery. In May 2019, the 2018 edition of De Mains de Maîtres travelled to the Grand Palais in Paris for Révélations, the international biennial event celebrating the arts and crafts trades and contemporary creation. The Grand Duchy was the guest of honour at the fourth edition of this unmissable event in the field of French and international creation.

The themes of the first two exhibitions were De Mains de Maîtres (2016) and Gestes & Merveilles (2018). The 2021 edition is presented under the titles Viv(r)e la matière and Impressions d'automne for its counterpart in Paris.

At each edition, the organisers award one jury prize and one people's-choice prize. In 2018, Léa Schroeder won the people's-choice prize. 

The desire to produce her own designs nevertheless became increasingly strong, and not being able to literally use her own hands triggered a desire both to become independent and to return to the Grand Duchy. It was a gradual return to her native country via a number of projects, including exhibitions at the Konschthaus beim Engel, as part of the Design City event, and during the De Mains de Maîtres biennial event. This last project, her first major piece of independent work, brought her dream of freedom to life. 

For Léa Schroeder, being part of the Luxembourg scene means promoting local work and showcasing the Grand Duchy abroad. Although the Grand Duchy is now her home base, she continues to work in other countries as well. The art and crafts trades are extremely important to her, as they represent the excellence of skills by combining top quality design, materials and techniques. In addition to producing items of her own brand, she also works on projects for other people, acts as a consultant, and enjoys sharing her experience and know-how with other producers.