Simone Decker at the Nationalmusée: fifteen interventions

From 13 November, fifteen interventions by Simone Decker are designed to enter into dialogue with the Nationalmusée’s collections. An overview of the project, the prize and the artist’s career.

On 13 November 2026, the Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart opens an exhibition devoted to Simone Decker, winner of the 2026 Lëtzebuerger Konschtpräis. Its premise is built around a number and a search for dialogue: fifteen interventions by the artist are designed to engage with the collections throughout the museum. For visitors, then, the challenge will not simply be to explore a selection of thirty years of work, but to consider how a contemporary work can shift the way a place and what it preserves are read.

The exhibition accompanies a prize that has already been awarded. The jury chose Simone Decker on 8 December 2025; the Ministry of Culture announced the decision on 22 January 2026. The November opening is a new opportunity to encounter her work, not the announcement of a new jury decision.

Works throughout the museum

According to an interview published by RTL, the fifteen interventions will be spread throughout the building. Simone Decker revisited works and archives from different periods, then considered where they might «dialogue» with the museum. The artist explains that, while going back through her files, she rediscovered pieces she had almost forgotten. This rereading also gave her a chance to consider her own career from the perspective of the spaces in which her works might be shown.

Working with the archives also has a material dimension. In her interview with RTL, the artist mentions scattered but preserved boxes and files that she was able to revisit in preparation for this presentation. It is not simply a matter of finding a date or a title: this research brings older works into relation with a place where they can take on a different role. Decker also sees this stage as an opportunity to look ahead to future projects, without presenting the distinction as the end point of her career.

An intervention in a museum can be understood as a gesture that changes the relationship between a work and its surroundings, without necessarily altering those surroundings physically. Dialogue with the collections is the principle the artist has given to her selection: the aim is to seek possible correspondences, without presenting the works as a single commentary on everything around them. Visitors will be able to appreciate these connections in relation to the objects and spaces they encounter.

Scale, materials and habits of perception

The jury describes a practice spanning installation, sculpture and photography, and engaging with both built environments and public space. In its announcement, the Ministry mentions, in particular, plays of scale, unexpected materials and deceptive surfaces. These devices can alter how we find our bearings: an unusual proportion or an out-of-place material can sometimes make an everyday situation feel less familiar.

This detail helps us look at the works without assigning them an automatic meaning. A difference in scale does not have the same effect everywhere; it depends on what surrounds it and how the body is positioned in space. In an exhibition spread throughout a museum, this relationship between object, architecture and visitor is particularly important. The works need not be considered as isolated pieces: their location can form part of the experience on offer.

Two reference points give an idea of the length and diversity of the artist’s career. «Untermieter», an installation shown at Galerie Beaumont in 1996, is cited by the Ministry among the notable works of Luxembourg’s contemporary art scene. In 1999, Simone Decker presented «Chewing and Folding in Venice» at the Venice Biennale. These are milestones in her career; they are not a list of works on show in November. They place the dialogue with the museum within a practice developed since the 1990s, spanning installation and photographic projects.

A biennial prize recognising a career

Established in 2022, the Lëtzebuerger Konschtpräis is awarded every two years. It recognises an artist for their body of work, career and sustained commitment to Luxembourg’s art scene. The prize is worth 10 000 euros. The Ministry specifies that eligible artists may be Luxembourgish, live or work in Luxembourg, or have strong cultural ties to the country.

Simone Decker is the third winner: Berthe Lutgen received the prize in 2022, followed by Marc-Henri Reckinger in 2024. This biennial rhythm places the distinction within an ongoing recognition of the art scene, rather than an annual award tied to a single recent work. The Ministry describes Decker as having been active since the 1990s, particularly in installation and photography, and highlights her presence on both the Luxembourg and international art scenes.

The exhibition thus brings together two timeframes: that of a prize recognising a career and that of a museum where certain works are set to find new neighbours. For visitors, the practical question will be less about finding a key that applies to the entire body of work than about observing, at each encounter, what brings an intervention closer to or sets it apart from its surroundings.

Dates and venue

The exhibition «Simone Decker. Lëtzebuerger Konschtpräis 2026» is scheduled to run from 13 November 2026 to 21 March 2027 at the Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart in Luxembourg. The fifteen interventions are to be discovered throughout the building. Up-to-date practical information is available on the museum’s website.