Nurturing ArcelorMittal’s cultural roots

7 September 2017

The exhibition The Forge of a modern society. Photography and Corporate Communication in the Industrialization era (ARBED 1911 - 1937)’ was unveiled at the national audiovisual centre (CNA) in Dudelange in June 2017.

This exhibition highlights the industrial archives found in 2007 at the Lycée Technique Privé Emile Metz in Dommeldange. These photographs of the era of industrialization have a long history and have experienced many social uses.

Formerly instruments of corporate communication, the glass plates subsequently became relics of the industrial history of the country, showing the evolution of the Emile Metz Institute and ARBED Dommeldange.

Beyond the staging of this precious collection of glass plates, the exhibition also values the archive work of the CNA’s archivists, the restoration work of students from the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW) of Berlin and the scientific research of Françoise Poos, member of the researchers group FAMOSO led by Prof Karin Priem from the C2DH – all necessary to highlight this glorious past. The exhibition can be visited until December, discover it!

Thanks to the common efforts of the CNA and the research team of the University of Luxembourg, the photos of the Emile Metz Institute have regained their cultural importance. They appear today as living witnesses of a history rich in details and anecdotes, who continues to speak to us and to challenge us.
Marguy Conzémius, CNA, co-curator of the exhibition

Emile Metz Institute. The white wolves at the beach at Bredene-sur-Mer in Belgium. Swedish gym session. Around 1928. © CNA, Fonds Institut Emile Metz, HISACS000207V01.

ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg also demonstrates its commitment to local artists through its sponsoring to the Schlassgoart Gallery, which has hosted more than 90 exhibitions featuring the work of more than 200 contemporary artists since its creation. In 2016, our group also collaborated with the artist Jacques Schneider, around his projects De Lëtzebuerger Fändel and Peace, Europe, the steel industry.