There is no age limit to standing up for women's rights, as Berthe Lutgen proves with her current exhibition at Neimënster abbey.
At 87 years old, the inveterate feminist shows no signs of slowing down. Her commitment goes far beyond her art: in 1971, she founded the Women's Liberation Movement (Mouvement de Libération des Femmes MLF) in Luxembourg.
Her current exhibition, showing "women at work", focuses on the issues of today, but also expresses her wishes for the future.
Berthe Lutgen: "Through women, through the female figure I want to show a world in peace, in harmony with nature, without war, without famine. I wish I had lived in such a world. I suffered in World War 2, I protested against the war in Vietnam and now the war in Ukraine."
Her motivation and her commitment remain relevant today. Ainhoa Achutegui, director of the Neimënster abbey: "Berthe Lutgen has been very prolific over the last years, especially during the pandemic. And of course covering her usual topics, women and women's rights, refugees and all the issues that are also our issues, that are values of our establishment."
A second room shows drawings representing the work of women in times of pandemic. The artist harkens back to women's situations throughout history.
Berthe Lutgen: "Women's work has always been represented in art, even in antiquity. Except during the Renaissance, where women were shown as goddesses or as madonna with child..."
The 16 drawings are shown on a purple background, the colour of feminism.
