The new French ambassador to Korea aims to bring a personal touch to the French cultural extravaganza known as FranceExpress.
This year, the festival will run for four months during which time Ambassador Elisabeth Laurin assures that everyone will be treated to some spectacular, world-class French talent.
"To know about a country you have to know its people, its history, its sentiments," said Laurin. "One of the best ways to do that is through a country's arts."
Before coming to Korea a few weeks ago, Laurin was curious to know more about Korea, not its political situation which she can easily find out through the media and the French foreign ministry, but about its people and culture.
She did not have to go far in Paris to find a wealth of Korean culture. The future ambassador to Korea at the time not only discovered traditional performances but also more avant-garde or contemporary Korean art such as innovative design, films and literature. As well, there has been a big surge in recent years to translate Korean literature into French, thus bringing a whole new world to France.
Laure Coudret-Laut, cultural counselor and director of the French Cultural Center explained that there will be more than 40 events at this year's FranceExpress.
The festival will run between September and December and will offer musical performances, exhibitions, theatrical works and films.
"We will have more theater this year than in the past," said Coudret-Laut. "In total, 200 French artists will come to Korea for this festival."
To give the festival a Korean touch, actress Kim A-joong was appointed as the goodwill ambassador for FranceExpress 2009.
The festival will begin with a series of events called "Platform Seoul" with art exhibitions showcasing the works of Christian Boltanski, Vincent Ganivet, Alain Declercq, Elise Florenty and Thu Van Tran. These exhibitions will be shown at the Kimusa, which is the building that formerly housed the Defense Security Command.
A tribute exhibition dedicated to designer and architect Jean Prouve will take place at the Daelim Contemporary Art Museum from Friday until Nov. 29.
If that isn't enough French art, then check out the Georges Rouault exhibition which will showcase 160 of his works from the collections of Paris' renowned Centre Georges Pompidou. The exhibition will run from Dec. 16 until March 28 at the Hangaram Museum.
No festival celebrating French culture would be complete without a film festival, and the embassy has lined up eight different film events.
One highlight of the film aspect of FranceExpress will be the French film night at the Pusan International Film Festival in October.
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