Performances back at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore

There will be concerts, collaborative shows and exhibitions in different fields

After a two-year gap, performances and cultural activities are back at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. While the French classes were on in full swing, the other activities were yet to take off in a big way.

A slew of cultural events have been slated for the coming week, including Indo-French events, says Randrianampizafy Jean Christian, director of the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, who took charge in September 2020. Christian’s top priority is to promote Indo-French events and also tap into the city’s cultural well springs.

Events galore

The events started with ‘Journée de la Francophonie’ on March 12, that celebrated the French language and its cultural diversity. This will be followed by ‘Shine’, an exhibition featuring women portraits and a round table discussion on the theme, ‘Together we can forge a women’s equity’ featuring a mix of Indian and French speakers on March 16 at 7 pm.

“We hope to collaborate with Indian musicians, dancers and artists on many of the events that we have planned. Our newest activity is Cafe Jazz (March 18) where musicians are introduced to the nuances of jazz music and young talents are identified and supported. The visual arts events will spot new artists and we will help them collaborate with established artists in the city to create new work. It will serve as an opportunity for them to improve their creativity and techniques,” Christian tells Metrolife.

There will also be ‘CinemAlliance’ which will showcase French films with English subtitles. The next big event that the team at Alliance is working towards is Bonjour India from April till June. “There will be concerts, exhibitions and performances in different fields. We will feature both Indian and French artists,” adds Christian.

Elections must be held

Zafer Mohiuddin, past president of Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, meanwhile, is advocating for more Indo-French events. “I have proposed that we hold World Theatre Day showcasing Indo-French artists,” says Zafer, who also feels that elections to form the new executive committee must be held. “While the newly-appointed administrator is working well with the director, the executive committee members will add value to the process,” he adds.

Another past member of the executive committee says that there are a lot of internal issues, both financial and logistical, that need to be resolved. “The administrator has not resolved many of the issues that we had highlighted in our deposition to the government. The matter is now in court and we hope the elections will be held and these issues will be solved at the earliest,” he adds.