The Hindu Business Line : ‘Month of France’ isn’t all French

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 26 CulturesFrance, the government agency responsible for promoting French culture, is planning an annual ‘month of France’ in India.

According to Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, Director, CulturesFrance, the details of the proposal are still being worked out. Currently, the thinking is to stage the first ‘month of France’ in the last quarter of 2009, with various cultural events and activities being held across India, he explains. The Embassy of France in India, the Alliance Francaise network and, perhaps, an Indian partner will work with CulturesFrance to organise the event, he adds.

One of the major activities of CulturesFrance, which was created in 2006 and continues the activities of the French Association for the Promotion of the Arts (AFAA), is to promote foreign cultures in France through ‘cultural seasons’ that focus on a particular country or region. Interestingly, one of the first ‘cultural seasons’ was the Festival of India in France organised a little over 22 years ago.

There is a lot of interest in India and Indian culture in France, says d’Arvor. Two or three major exhibitions on India, including one at the Louvre in Paris, are planned over the next several months. Culture, d’Arvor believes, is not about making money. “It is about making you better, more civilised and more able to understand the culture of another country. And I don’t like the idea of having one culture which will be more important than another one,” he emphasises. This belief is the principle behind the organisation’s programmes that focus on the culture of African and Caribbean countries. These initiatives promote artists from the regions, both within the region and globally, he explains.

CulturesFrance is now thinking about launching a similar cultural initiative that focuses on countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, he adds.

Increasingly, there is recognition that culture contributes to economies, says d’Arvor. In France, for instance, there are around 2.5 million people working the cultural sector. In recent years, in France, the private sector has started providing more financial support to the cultural sector, he points out. Yet, he stresses that culture is not a product like any other. “You can’t speak about culture like you speak about potatoes or rice,” he adds.

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