New Partner: International Kunstverein Luxembourg

The alumni GradPack programme started 2 years ago, with the initial partners coming from the business world. As the programme continues to evolve, we have been able to add new partners with more of a cultural focus, starting with the British-Luxembourg Society last year and now with our new partner the International Kunstverein Luxembourg (IKL). IKL is a nonprofit organisation whose goal is to promote art and culture.

To find out more about IKL and what our alumni can expect from becoming a member, we spoke to Rick Serrano, a Board Member of IKL, as well as a painter, philosopher, executive coach and public speaker.

What do you like the most about IKL?

We promote art and culture in Luxembourg in a very dynamic and interactive way by organising art and culture conferences, painting exhibitions and occasionally cultural short trips to places close to Luxembourg to try disseminating culture and share also new artists, new tendencies, and new trends with the people in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg has always been known as a financial centre, then it moved to become a financial hub and now it has the reputation of a country that is a very solid financial hub. However, we believe that as the country evolves and as our population gets more and more sophisticated, people are now looking more and more for a cultural and artistic activities and ways in which they can enrich their spirits beyond the business.

Additionally, we are very happy to have our events are open to the general public and to keep participation in a majority of them free of charge. The upcoming events are all published on our website.

How can one become a member of IKL?

Uni.lu Alumni get their first year membership for free and while they can enrich their spirit with other subjects like painting, literature and philosophy, I think our events represent a very good networking opportunity for alumni. We normally have highly educated, very well-connected people in Luxembourg who are either in business or in in other fields, but they have a very high cultural level, so that is of course very attractive I think for the alumni of the university.

Standard membership is €50 per year and these funds are used to support our expenses. Members can suggest topics so that we develop conferences based on the topics that you as a member suggest Also members get invited to the other events, like the day visits. You can also be an active member and get involved in the organisation of the events and selection of the speakers. You can be as active as you want.

Why is IKL looking to have Uni.lu alumni among their members?

We want to bring together well-educated people, we want to bring together creative, innovative, professional, well-connected people, and we want to spread our cultural activities in the Grand Duchy. So that is why the alumni are very important and you know very personally because I also sit in the board of Amis de l'Université du Luxembourg so everything that connects to the University is relevant for me. My wife studies at the University, I know some of the professors and the Rector, of course. There are many, many reasons why I am personally interested in in bringing the alumni to our events.

I think it is a good fit for the alumni also because I know that you have an international community and our events are usually in English, while we can accept questions in French, German and Spanish. The events organized by the IKL are of high intellectual interest, which naturally will fit with the University of Luxembourg alumni network. We hope to welcome the alumni at our next events. 

In September we hosted the conference “Trapped in Myself” – “revisiting the drama of existence with Franz Kafka” this is the IKL’s response to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the death of Kafka. You probably know that all around the world, this year hundreds of events are being organized to remember Kafka.

On the 17 October, we will be hosting the conference “Greek Wisdom – The seven wise men of ancient Greece” and finally on the 21 November, we will be hosting the conference “Torments and Headaches”- “existential and philosophical concerns of William Shakespeare” – we do hope to welcome many Uni.lu alumni to these events. They will all be hosted at the beautiful auditorium of the Banque de Luxembourg, on 14 Boulevard Royal in the City. To reserve a place, alumni are invited to send an email. We hope to see you all there!