Celebrating Luxembourg's creativity: cultural immersion at Expo 2025 Osaka
The Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of the country's creative industries. The ambitious programme spotlights local talent while also encouraging artistic and cultural dialogue with Japan.
The various spaces in the pavilion are hosting a series of cultural events and installations, developed in close collaboration with Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg, throughout the World Expo. The idea is for the programme to continue beyond Expo 2025, with priority given to sustainable projects designed to have a life after Osaka. Luxembourg's creative diversity will be given pride of place, with a series of permanent installations and one-off events. Read on for an overview of the highlights. Doki Doki!
A pavilion filled with music
On 30 May, Luxembourg's National Day at the Expo, a concert entitled "Echoes of Tomorrow" features Francesco Tristano, Maika Fujii, Jill Crovisier and Pascal Schumacher. Their performance is a sensory experience blending piano, synthesizers, vibraphone and contemporary dance to explore the role of art in the era of artificial intelligence. This immersive work celebrates creativity as a vehicle for a more inclusive, harmonious future.
For the opening of the pavilion, a unique concert brought together two outstanding choirs and a total of 90 young singers: Pueri Cantores from the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and the choir from Ritsumeikan School in Kyoto. The performance combined tradition and modernity, symbolising cultural dialogue and perfectly reflecting the spirit of Expo 2025 and one of its subthemes, "Connecting Lives".
An original composition by Claude Zeimes serves as a leitmotif for the pavilion, accompanying the scenography and creating a unique soundscape that resonates perfectly with the "Doki Doki" theme.
Architecture and design: showcasing sustainable innovation
Designed by the Luxembourg architecture firm STDM, the Luxembourg Pavilion reflects the principles of circular architecture. STDM works in urban planning, interior design and sustainable construction, placing emphasis on energy efficiency and environmental responsibility from the very beginning of the design phase.
For the interior of the pavilion, Julie Conrad, Christophe de la Fontaine, Frank Michels, David Geckeler and Georges Zigrand were selected via a call for applications to devise the furnishings for the VIP spaces in the Luxembourg Pavilion. Their creations are both elegant and functional, highlighting the vitality of the design sector in Luxembourg.
For the DesignDays@luxembourg.pavilion exhibition, which ran from the end of April to the beginning of May, the designers presented a variety of contrasting perspectives on the design of everyday objects. The exhibition combined scenography with a modern-day curiosity cabinet, giving visitors the opportunity to see the works close up, touch some pieces and explore a range of different approaches: artisanal craftsmanship, cultural heritage and high-precision industrial techniques. Featuring an industrial-style archive display and an immersive, domestic setting, the exhibition shone a light on the creativity and wide-ranging nature of design in Luxembourg.
A graphical tribute
In honour of the Luxembourg Pavilion, a limited-edition collector's stamp has been issued by POST Philately (30,000 copies). The stamp, priced at €2.40, illustrates the innovative architecture of the pavilion and reflects the principles of circular design and disassembly. The stamp's designer, Arnaud de Meyer, chose to feature the pavilion's lightweight, multipurpose roof, which embodies the "reduce" principle in the circular economy approach. The stamp highlights Luxembourg's graphic design sector, creativity and expertise.
Converging perspectives: art as a bridge between cultures
From 6 to 20 May, the "Fallen Trees" exhibition, organised by Pitt Brandenburger, pays tribute to the beauty of trees and shrubs and the crucial role they play. Every sculpture, representing a human silhouette in an open sarcophagus, symbolises a different tree species. The artist uses natural materials and works in cooperation with artisans including cabinetmakers, goldsmiths and ceramicists, showcasing their know-how and creativity. Devised as a travelling exhibition in collaboration with the Luxembourg Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, "Fallen Trees" encourages cultural dialogue and promotes sustainability by using wood from trees that have fallen naturally.
Luxembourg artist Aïda Patricia Schweitzer explores traditional Japanese textiles with her project "FILS CROISÉS – KŌSASURU ITO", which looks at how interwoven threads and textiles can tell stories and foster dialogue. This artistic research project uses intertwined threads to symbolise cultural links, exchanges and interactions between ideas and individuals. The project began in Luxembourg and has now been extended to Japan, creating an artistic dialogue between the two countries. The artworks resulting from the project will be on display from 8 to 16 August.
Finally, from 24 September to 12 October, photographers Daniel Reuter from Luxembourg and Chikara Umihara from Japan will offer a comparative perspective of the city of Osaka and the surrounding region. Their exhibition is the result of a research and creation residency in autumn 2024.
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