KULTURA / CULTURE
AWAITING THE OLYMPICS In the rhythm of French culture In the year that sees Paris host the Summer Olympics, Belgrade’s Institut Français is organising a series of events aimed at promoting French culture in Serbia, as well as the links that exist between culture and sport
gramme dedicated to sports.
The autumn following the stag- ing of the Olympics will be dedicat- ed to the performing arts. This year’s BITEF will welcome guest perfor- mances by France’s most impor- tant theatre companies, while No- vi Sad’s NOMUS festival will mark the centenary of the death of famous French composer Gabriel Fauré with an exceptional concert that will be led by renowned French pianist Éric Le Sage. And for its anniversary edition, the Belgrade Jazz Festival will pres- ent a young French jazz band that has been packing concert halls across France for several years. Apart from music, France will al- so be in the focus of Belgrade’s Octo- ber Salon, where Mathieu Lelievre, curator of the Museum of Contem- porary Art in Lyon, will be engaged as one of the curators. This year is an extremely important one for this bi- ennale of contemporary art, due to cooperation having been established with the Lyon Biennale. As the year comes to a close, the Belgrade public will receive an oppor- tunity to get acquainted with Paris’s Notre Dame, with the doors of this great cathedral set to reopen on 8 th December, following reconstruction after the devastating 2019 fire. The Institut Français will mark this occa- sion with an exhibition of this jewel of French architecture, as well as a se- ries of lectures on the topics of his- tory and literature, with an accom- panying film programme. A rich programme of debates and panel discussions will be organised throughout the entire year, including a lecture by Olivier Girault, captain of France’s national handball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and a meet and greet with Luc Julia, co-cre- ator of the Siri program. The Rhythm of French Cul- ture will also include events pro- moting contemporary circuses: the Cirkobalkana theatre, Ludifico cen- tre and Kreativni pogon association will all host French performances and artists in the new circus field, as an artistic discipline embodying the strong ties between the perform- ing arts and sports.
F rom April to December, the Institut Français is presenting the latest in almost every artistic dis- cipline. The public has an opportunity to enjoy exhibitions, the- atre shows, concerts, film and pan- el programmes, as well as contents highlighting the links that exist be- tween culture, science and sport. The Rhythm of French Culture event be- gins with the exhibition Science in the Service of Medals in the gallery of the Institut Français, which show- cases the extent to which scientific achievements can influence sport- ing competitions. From 8 th to 11 th May, under the auspices of the tradi- tional Molière Days festival of litera- ture, the public will be able to attend the presentations of auteur works by novelist Andreï Makine, mem- ber of the Académie Française and winner of the prestigious Prix Gon- court, journalist and writer Maylis Besserie, also a Prix Goncourt lau-
reate, and world-famous comic art- ist Christian Lax. The Institut Français is also join- ing the Olympic Parade, which has been organised to mark the start of the 60-day countdown to the depar- ture of Serbia’s athletes bound for Paris. One of the parade stations will be located at the building of the In- stitut Français in Belgrade, where the choreographed Vertical Dance will be performed by two contem- porary dancers hanging from the building’s roof. Marking the start of summer, the sixth edition of the Festival of French Film will take place from 19 th to 23 rd June at five locations in Bel- grade, but also in Novi Sad, Niš and Zrenjanin. It will present the latest achievements of French cinematog- raphy to the public, together with sev- eral films that will be screened in Ser- bia immediately after appearing at the Cannes Festival. This year’s festi- val will also include a special film pro-
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