Luxembourg: luxe for life

The tourist brochures often call it Europe's best-kept secret. That may be a little over the top, but they have a point, as Luxembourg does rather hide its light under a bushel.

The landlocked nation is known for its banks and finance, and for being the second-richest country in the world. But there is more to it than that. Luxembourg may be one of the world's smallest countries, but it's also one of the most international. A surprising 43 per cent of its population was born abroad, and locals speak at least four languages - German, French, Luxemburgish and English. It also has a growing array of exciting museums and galleries.

Luxembourg's enterprising National Audiovisual Centre (CNA), has opened two major photography spaces near its hi-tech concrete-and-glass headquarters in Dudelange, southern Luxembourg, just 16 kilometres from the capital.

One, an old industrial water tower in an abandoned steel plant, has been restored and converted to display a seminal photography exhibition called The Bitter Years, which was first shown at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1962. The other is the former pumping station next door, which is being used for temporary exhibitions. The first, which is showing until February 10, is by British photographer Stephen Gill.

The last time The Bitter Years, which was curated by Edward Steichen, was seen by the public was in Tokyo in 1995. Seventeen years later, and 50 years after its first showing at MoMA, the exhibition has found a permanent home.

Steichen was born in Luxembourg but moved to the United States as a child. He became a successful photographer and curator, and later worked as director of MoMA's photography department between 1947 and 1962. The Bitter Years is a collection of 203 images selected by Steichen from over 200,000 photographs taken around rural America during the late 1930s. The photos - taken by renowned photographers such as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee and Arthur Rothstein - document the effects of the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression. They show people in the depths of despair but are also a powerful testament to human resilience and strength.

The photos are displayed in groups to form themed tableaux and there is a strong graphic element to the layout. As curator Francoise Poos puts it: "He uses the museum walls like the pages of a magazine." The photos are displayed in two galleries: a circular one at the top of the water tower (in the former water tank) and an octagonal gallery in the tower's base. The darkened, temperature-controlled exhibition spaces are separated by a panoramic staircase and lift, allowing viewers to truly immerse themselves in the story Steichen wanted to tell.