Vienna Design Week

GAST Luxembourg 

In September 2026, Luxembourg was the guest of honour (GAST) at Vienna Design Week, one of Europe’s leading design events. Organised by Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg in collaboration with Design Luxembourg, this participation provided an international showcase for the Luxembourg design scene. 

Two-O-Eight: Designing Voices

At the heart of this participation, the exhibition Two-O-Eight: Designing Voices, curated by Anna Loporcaro in collaboration with Design Luxembourg, transformed the festival’s central venue into a radio agora. Referencing Radio Luxembourg’s historic frequency – 208 metres – the project gave a voice to some thirty Luxembourgish designers through podcasts produced with Radio 100.7, within a scenography conceived by Rachel Hoffmann (Studio Abricot). 

The recorded voices were those of Alexandros Angelidis, Nicolas Boon, Ulrike Degen, Étienne Duval, Roxanne Flick, Gil Galvão, Jan Glas, Reza Kianpour, Sophie Krier, Nicole Lanners, Ruth Lorang, Isabelle Mattern, Frank Michels, Irina Moons, Juliane Morel, Dan Neven, Charles Nilles, Jules Péan, Giacomo Piovan, Miriam Rosner, Thomas Tomschak, Marie Vilay, Charl Vinz, Julie Wagener, Dunja Weber, Michel Welfringer, Cathy Wolter and Georges Zigrand, interviewed by Marc Clement (Radio 100.7).

Live sessions

The exhibition also featured live conversations, moderated by Emma Hizette, bringing together figures from the design scenes in Luxembourg and Vienna: Nadine Clemens (Design Luxembourg) with Elli Schindler and Christian Schöttel (designaustria); Christophe de la Fontaine with Wolfgang Köchert (Juweliere A. E. Köchert); Annick Kieffer (Studio Polenta) with Jana Frantal and Hilal Avci (SIRENE Studio); Julie Conrad (Julie Conrad Design Studio) with Peter Umgeher (Vandasye); Rachel Hoffmann (Studio Abricot) with Gabriel Roland (Vienna Design Week); Lynn Harles (Studio Harles) with Sithara Pathirana (Klima Biennale Wien); and Sarah Meyers (Meyers & Fügmann) with Alice Jacubasch (Vienna Business Agency).

Listening sessions

The listening sessions featured three projects: Making Radio, by Sophie Krier; Zwischen den Schichten der Zeit by Anna Valentiny, in collaboration with Flâneries and Lëtzebuerger Land; and Selling Happiness, Shaping Minds – A Radio Luxembourg Story. A performance by Aamar also marked the official public opening of Vienna Design Week.

Other formats

Beyond the exhibition, the programme showcased other Luxembourgish talents through several of the festival’s formats: Passionswege, with Christophe de la Fontaine; Debüt, with the Lycée des Arts et Métiers; and PLATFORM, with Subtile and Tatiana Bifouri.