Clervaux is in the north of Luxembourg. The name designates both a town and a municipality. In terms of area, Clervaux is about the second largest municipality in the country. By population numbers, however, it is far less dense than other municipalities further south. This is explained by its very rural geographic situation.
Nowadays, rural areas tend to be underestimated and reduced to simple, agricultural stereotypes. But the rural regions of Luxembourg are part of a political strategy promoted at the national level, with a focus on quality of life, culture, tourism, agriculture, industry and heritage preservation...
Here you can find features from the most diverse eras side by side. Tradition and progress overlap. Layers of history remain as visible witnesses of the past. The evolution of the cultural landscape is just as evident as in the urban centres. Perhaps with the difference that the old does not always have to make way for the new?
Christian Aschman has observed these changes over a year. His images show nested compositions of urbanist activity. Strong contrasts, harmonious coexistence, audacious additions, functional templates and pastoral constructions. Christian Aschman draws the picture of a community, without ever showing a human figure.
And yet, highly individual and full of character. The North.
Text: A. Meyer / Clervaux - cité de l'image
English translation: N. Linden
Exhibition view
Photos © Christof Weber (CDI 2020)