Exhibition "Nuclear Paradise" by photographer Laurent Sturm

To be seen in Merl Park until June 2023

On Wednesday 22 February 2023, the College of the mayor and aldermen of the City of Luxembourg inaugurated the exhibition "Nuclear Paradise" by photographer Laurent Sturm in the presence of the artist. This exhibition documents, through 16 prints, the little-known daily life of the inhabitants of the Hao atoll, located in French Polynesia, a region that was greatly affected by the French nuclear testing programme. The exhibition is divided into three themes - daily life on the atoll, portraits of the inhabitants of Hao and post-military landscapes. It tells the story of a people who maintain a nostalgic relationship with their military and nuclear past, despite the environmental and health impact of this period.

Born in 1985 in Luxembourg, Laurent Sturm has been passionate about photography since his adolescence. The daily life of people from all parts of the world immediately became one of his favourite subjects. In 2021, he returned from a trip to French Polynesia with a box full of pictures and used them to create his first solo exhibition. While his wife, Lis Kayser, was engaged in anthropological research on the atoll as part of her doctoral thesis, the young artist took his camera to capture the lives of the inhabitants of Hao and thus document the post-atomic existence of a region that remained appropriated by the French military until 2000.

Back in Luxembourg, this photographic feat became a real boon for those responsible for the Cultural Coordination of the City of Luxembourg. Consequently, Laurent Sturm was entrusted with the open-air location "Art au Parc de Merl" to exhibit his images.

The open-air exhibition "Nuclear Paradise" will remain visible until June 2023 in the Parc de Merl (entrance on the Avenue du X Septembre side).