Nuit des Idées 2025 panellists; Credit: IPW

The Institut Pierre Werner (IPW) has announced it is organising, in cooperation with the Abbaye de Neumünster (neimënster), a new edition of the "Nuit des Idées" (Night of Ideas) event on Thursday 23 October 2025, starting at 19:00.

The 2025 edition, taking place at neimënster in Luxembourg-Grund, centres around the theme "Pouvoir Agir" ("power to act" or "empowerment"), a concept that invites us to reflect together on our ability to transform the world. From Jakarta to Paris, from Tokyo to Mexico City, via Luxembourg, the public is invited to explore how ideas can make a difference in the face of major contemporary challenges (climate, technology, democracy).

At a time when separatism and identity-based withdrawal are fracturing societies, the Night of Ideas aims to bring to life what makes us human. For this 2025 edition, the IPW and neimënster are asking themselves the question: In the face of rising abstention, how can we reinvent public engagement?

Play: The Appeal

The event will kick off at 19:00 with an English-language play directed by Orly Noa Rabinyan. The Appeal is inspired by one of the first public performative actions in Israeli cultural history. In 1936, under British rule, the Habima circle in Tel Aviv organised an imaginary literary trial following its decision to stage The Merchant of Venice in Hebrew for the first time. Even before the premiere, the decision sparked fierce public protest. The community came together to debate whether The Merchant of Venice should be performed here and now. The accused were none other than William Shakespeare, the Habima theatre and the director, Professor Leopold Jessner, who had recently fled Nazi Berlin in search of asylum.

Born in Israel to Persian parents, Orly Noa Rabinyan is a writer and director based in Zurich, Switzerland. In October 2023, she arrived at neimënster for a residency in which she worked on The Appeal, a performance that, according to the organisers, "showcases a diversity of voices and identities and aims to create a safe space for political discussion".

Roundtable / Debate on Democracy

The evening continues with a rountable at 20:20. Dedicated to the theme "Pouvoir agir, démocratie et participation citoyenne" (Power to act, democracy and citizen participation), the debate asks questions such as: If citizen consultations respond to a desire among citizens to participate more in public life, what does the increase in abstention from our democracies reveal? What form could public debate take in our democracies?

Bilingual French-German journalist Shila Behjat will moderate the roundtable (held in English, French and German, with simultaneous translation into English), which brings together: Pascal Perrineau, political scientist, professor emeritus of universities at Sciences Po (France) where he directed the Centre for Political Research from 1992 to 2013; Raphaël Kies, lecturer-researcher at the University of Luxembourg, head of the Luxembourg Platform for Participatory Democracy; Isabelle Roth Borucki, professor of political science methods and democracy during the digital transformation at the University of Marburg-Philipps (Germany); and Orly Noa Rabinyan, author and director.

The upcoming roundtable was preceded by a tour of "Et maintenant" (And now) workshops in schools, with the support of Educ'ARTE and CePAS (6 to 9 October 2025). More than 600 students from secondary schools in Luxembourg City, Differdange, Junglinster, Wiltz and Thionville (France) debated topics such as democracy, voting and Europe, with moderation by journalist Anne-Lise Carlo.

Entry is free, although registration is required.

Further information is available on the IPW website (for the play: https://ipw.lu/fr/events/appeal/772; for the debate: https://ipw.lu/fr/events/nacht-der-ideen-2025/773).