**From 30th October to 5th December 2021, Luxembourg Art Week is proud to display on Rond-point Robert Schuman, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, and in partnership with the City of Luxembourg, Té Danzante, a monumental sculpture made of cast iron by Joana Vasconcelos, a world-renown Portuguese artist. **
" Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea." Alice in wonderland, Lewis Carrol
Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. Joana Vasconcelos brings to the heart of Luxembourg a wrought-iron sculpture shaped as a teapot, "Té Danzante", that accomodates both jasmine seeds - allowing future vegetation to grow enveloping the entire piece - and a human being to step in, seat down, and find solace inside the artwork, for a full immersive experience.
The iron railing have been harmoniously shaped into distinctive pattern of fences and balustrades from both urban and rural landscape, creating also the bridge between domestric and public space. An architectural element both decorative and functional, its habitual scale enlarged, this teapot has a dreamlike quality that takes us on a journey with Alice in wonderland.
The Jasmine, commonly used to scent green tea, highlights the connection with the five o'clock tradition. A tradition, originated in the 17th century by the portuguse; who brought shiploads of tea to Europe upon the return from their Eastern travels. It was also due to Portuguese born and Queen Consort of England and Scotland, Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), that the habit of tea drinking spread, first into nobility and later across the country and the kingdom.
Joana Vasconcelos Biography
Born in 1971, Joana Vasconcelos is a contemporary visual artist renowned for her monumental sculptures, whose 25 years practise stretches to drawing and film. She updates the arts & crafts concept to the 21st century and incorporates everyday objects with irony and humour, creating a bridge between domestic environment and public space while questioning the status of women, consumerism society and collective identity. International acclaim came at the first Venice Biennale ever curated by women with The Bride in 2005, followed by Trafaria Praia, the first floating pavilion in the biennale representing Portugal in 2013. The youngest artist and the only woman ever at Palace of Versailles, to a record breaking 1.6 million visitors, her 2012 exhibition was the most visited in France in 50 years. In 2018, Vasconcelos became the first Portuguese to exhibit at Guggenheim Bilbao with a major retrospective, which was one of the most visited in the museum’s history and reached 4th place in The Art Newspaper’s annual exhibitions’ Top 10. Beyond, her biggest show so far in the UK, continues at Yorkshire Sculpture Park until January 2022.
