I dreamed I was a house

Ulla von Brandenburg, Julie Favreau, Anna Hulacová, Aurora Sander, Markus Selg, Alvaro Urbano

I dreamed I was a house is an immersive exhibition curated by insitu collective that unlocks the psychological potential of the domestic home. In psychoanalysis, dreaming of a house is considered to be a reflection of one’s self, whereby the individual spaces relate to different facets of our personality. In a similar direction, this exhibition overlays two types of “interior spaces”—the mind and the home—so that the architecture of the home evokes the hidden depths of the human psyche: from the vortex of the hallway, to the social façade of the dining room, to the intimacy of the bedroom, and down to the shadowy subconscious, hidden in the basement.

Working within the historical building of Casino Luxembourg, insitu collective has invited six artists to create individual domestic environments or “rooms.” These rooms form a metaphorical collage of a house that brings to life the emotional resonance of our most private spaces. The unique spatial and multi-sensorial experience that is at once familiar and surreal aims to trigger personal associations, memories and emotions that are held deep within ourselves.

insitu collective consists of the Berlin-based international curators Marie Graftieaux (FR), Nora Mayr (AT), Gilles Neiens (LU) and Lauren Reid (AU). The name insitu collective refers to the team’s understanding of curatorial practice as being necessarily ‘in situ’ in terms of cultural, social and geographic spaces. In particular, insitu collective explores narratives within exhibitions to create engaging and immersive scenographies to bring audiences inside a topic, be it self-help culture, a future nuclear waste repository, or a fictional character.