COOPERATIONS is firmly rooted in the Jardin de Wiltz: this is where it all began. Back in 1983, the project Jardin de Wiltz was initiated, designed and realized by a group of artists from England, Luxembourg and Austria. One of them was Herbert Maly, the driving force behind the establishment of COOPERATIONS. At the time the artists’ collective was working on the development of innovative models for cultural work in public and social spaces. During the following years the garden was laid out and planted in collaboration with people with disabilities, unemployed people, temporary project teams and craftspeople.
What began in the early 1980s as an artistically inspired concept for a garden is still bearing plentiful fruit today. In 1990, a number of Wiltz residents and local organizations got together and founded COOPERATIONS, thus creating a legal and organizational basis for a multitude of artistic and social activities centred around the garden and designed to address a varied audience, and moreover providing a framework for the financing and further development of the Jardin de Wiltz.
On entering the Jardin de Wiltz you find yourself in the midst of an ensemble of artistically laid-out watercourses, generously proportioned terraced ponds and flower and plant beds, and stone fields, where you can watch the local “Hasselstein” rock change its colour with the weather. Water, plants and rock combine with carefully placed art objects to form a living work of art: the Jardin de Wiltz. Formerly the water catchment area of the Gruber brewery, the meticulously designed garden comprises some three hectares, with a maximum difference in elevation of 18 metres. And it is undergoing a process of constant transformation, as the plants are growing and the colours are changing with the seasons. New events and projects add to the spirit of this work-in-progress. On the occasion of the Nuit des Lampions, the garden is transformed into a sea of lights to become the perfect setting for artistic attractions. And throughout the warmer months various music and theatre events keep alive the special atmosphere of the garden.
The Jardin de Wiltz is situated on a plot of land owned by the municipality of Wiltz and is accessible free of charge all year round. The living work of art is tended to by a team of people with disabilities employed by COOPERATIONS, under the guidance of a professional gardener. All programmes initiated by COOPERATIONS are aimed at promoting the interrelations between art, social participation and rural development.
