Interview with Guillaume and Stéphanie for "De Mains de Maître"

Photo: RTL / RTL.lu

De Mains de Maître - Of Master Hand: That's the name of an exhibition that will take place from December 1 to 5 at the 19 Liberté, the former ARBED building, in Luxembourg City. The exhibition will highlight talented young craftsmen and art designers from the Grand Duchy. The idea behind the the exhibition comes from no other than the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess who launched the initiative together with the Chamber of Trade and the Ministries of Economy and Culture. In an interview with RTL Radio, Guillaume and Stéphanie spoke about the idea behind the exhibition.

The couple's involvement follows in the footsteps of a long-time commitment of the Grand Ducal Family to the local skilled crafts and trades, which started with Grand Duchess Charlotte. Already Grand Duke Jean made it a priority to hand out the diplomas for Luxembourg's master craftsman each year. It has since been continued by Grand Duke Henri and, for the last couple of years, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. The Hereditary Grand Duchess tells that they first had the idea for the exhibition during visits to a number of local companies last year and that they have since found many open doors for it. 

"Craftsmanship is part of Luxembourgish history and Europe's history really. We shouldn't forget that Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo also were craftsman in addition to world famous artists. Everything in this country's history - the castles, the fortresses, in the city, the palais grand-ducal and the Cathédrale - was built by craftsman and we should be proud of that", Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie says with her husband adding, "Craftsmanship connects the past, present and future - many of the companies are family-owned. The idea of a master teaching his apprentice, the continuity - it's a challenge to combine the tradition with the challenge modernity entails."

The full interview, in which Guillaume and Stéphanie reveal that neither of them is very good with their hands, is available at RTL both as a video and audios.