Award ceremony of the Fondation Leir Jury Prize and the RTL Public Prize

From 20 November to 28 November 2021, "Viv(r)e la matière", the third edition of the Biennial Art Crafts Exhibition "De Mains De Maîtres", highlighted the excellence of the expertise of Luxembourg's craftsmen and art creators. For 10 days, 10,000 visitors were able to discover an original and temporary collection of more than 300 works at 19 Liberté and in 11 locations of the outside tour. 

The exhibition, originally scheduled for 2020, ended on 15 December with a prize-giving ceremony in the presence of LL.AA.RR. the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess.

The Biennial event 2021 officially closed on 15 December at the Chambre des Métiers with the awarding of the Jury Prize of the Fondation Leir and the Public Prize RTL to two artists of the exhibition, in the presence of LL.AA.RR. the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess, the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Mrs. Lydie Polfer, the President of the Chambre des Métiers, Tom Oberweis, the members of the 2021 Jury and craftsmen and creators of art.

On the proposal of the selection committee of the Biennial 2021, the Leir Foundation Jury Prize was awarded by HRH Prince Guillaume and by Mr Tom Loesch, representing the foundation in Luxembourg, to the violin maker Didac Zerrouk. Through this prize, the charitable foundation intends to mark its ongoing support for De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg, which, by celebrating Luxembourg craftsmanship, perfectly embodies the spirit and know-how that inspired Henry J. and Erna D. Leir during their lifetime.

This year's jury was composed of the following 9 members: HRH Prince Guillaume, Mr Roland Kuhn (President of the association), Mrs Claudine Hemmer (Advisor to the Ministry of Culture in Luxembourg), Mrs Christiane Sietzen (Cultural Coordinator City of Luxembourg), Mr Jean-Marie Biwer (Painter), Mr Benoît Hennaut (Director of La Cambre Brussels), Mr François Valentiny (Architect), Mr Hubert Wurth (Former Ambassador and self-taught artist) and Mr Jean-Marc Dimanche (General CuratorThe exhibition De Mains De Maîtres 2021 ended on 15 December with a prize-giving ceremony in the presence of LL.AA.RR. the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess. of Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg).

Born in Luxembourg-City on 16 March 1994, Didac Zerrouk is a young violin maker, specialised in the creation of plucked string instruments. He did many apprenticeships in violin shops and ateliers in Belgium and gave violin making lessons in Tetouan (Morocco) for the association MusicFund on two occasions during his training at IFAPME (Limal-Belgium) before meeting a master violin maker (Renzo Salvador - Liège Belgium) in Liège, which totally changed his vision of the profession.  "Violinmaking is the creation of a unique musical object, with absolute attention to the musician's needs, to which the craftsman brings all his know-how and a pinch of creativity to extract the musician's dreams". Wishing to be able to create unique and impactful instruments both sonically and visually and tactilely for the musician, he opened his workshop and shop in Clervaux in 2018 at the end of his studies. Since then, he has made a living out of his passion, pushing back the limits of materials and his know-how to combine tradition and modernity in exceptional instruments thought out, made and brought into the world with the only aim of creating sensations, colours and emotions in all those who cross their path. 

The Public Prize was awarded by Christiane Kremer, RTL's Director of Culture, to Stefania Atanasiu, embroiderer. The winner was selected by the public who had the possibility to vote during the Biennial on rtl.lu for the artist of their choice. 3800 votes were registered and Stefania Atanasiu won almost 30% of the votes.

Stefania Atanasiu, embroidery artist, born in 1975 in Bucharest (Romania), has been living in Luxembourg for 5 years. She has a degree in legal science and started embroidering 6 years ago, inspired by traditional Romanian blouses. She is self-taught and a member of the Association "Semne Cusute" (Signes Cousus), with which she has participated in international exhibitions. The embroidered blouses she creates represent, above all, a particular language by combining various ancient embroidery techniques, made of natural threads (silk, linen, wool, hemp and metallic thread) on equally natural fabrics (hemp, linen, silk) harmonising colours and traditional motifs.