Bonjour, Spring!
On April 3 the Maidan (Independence Square) in Kyiv will host a fairy-tale show called “The Spectacle of Fire” by a Toulouse-based French rock group, which opens this year’s “French Spring 2005” festival in Ukraine.
The organizers of the festival promise a number of interesting events: exhibits, concerts, movies, master classes, meetings, discussions, presentations, and a rugby match for the French Ambassador’s Cup. Works by contemporary French artists will be on display in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, and Donetsk.
The festival will be preceded by the First International Festival of French-Speaking Student Theaters of Ukraine (scheduled to begin March 28). Everyone will be able to select a program to his liking. The contemporary Kafig Ballet Company will perform an original show called Solo featuring hip-hop performed to the accompaniment of classical music. Movie buffs will be offered seven sneak previews. The renowned graphic artist Philippe Apeloig will arrive to open his one-man poster show.
A number of expositions will acquaint visitors with the creativity of several original artists. Gerard Guillomar and Bernard Ransiaque will be in Kyiv to boost residents’ awareness with their “Figurative Narrative,” with which Ukrainians had a chance to acquaint themselves during the previous French Spring festival, thanks to the works of ErrЧ, Peter Klasen, and Jacques Monory.
Ukraine has become a source of inspiration for Sandrine Atta and Nadja Benbuti. The young artists will be showing their works to the residents of Odesa first, then Kyiv. The general public will long remember their encounters with representatives of the younger filmmaking generation during “Short Films Night.” These will be held in all the big regional centers of Ukraine.
A special place in the festival program has been set aside for books. A unique souvenir edition has been issued by Calvaria Publishers, with support from the Skovoroda Program: a Ukrainian translation of Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel. The book includes prints by Kyiv’s graphic artist Mykhailo Aleksandrov. Language problems are among the most pressing issues facing Europe, so The Dictionary of European Philosophies; Lexicon of Untranslatable Concepts will come in very handy for translators.
France’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Philippe de Suremain, admitted that, thanks to the festival, he too will learn many interesting things about modern culture. The festival organizers have given their assurances that the festival will become an annual event in Ukraine.
“French Spring 2005” is a festival that tells a little about everything. Will there be thematic festivals dedicated to certain celebrated figures?
“The concept of our festival is flexible,” said Patrick Donabedian, French Embassy’s adviser on culture and cooperation. “We are prepared to consider interesting proposals and conduct a dialogue with our partners. We’ve staged joint concerts and now have a history of creative cooperation with performers in both of our countries. During this year’s French Spring 2005 festival we are holding an evening of classical French music, featuring the symphony orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, conducted by Mykola Diadiura.
“You know, inviting a noted singer or musician is easier than inviting an orchestra. We often invite individual performers at the request by our Ukrainian partners. We’ve had joint concerts at the Philharmonic Society and National Opera. We have a schedule of concert tours featuring leading French orchestras, but such creative projects entail heavy spending, so we’ll need more than the resources of the French Cultural Center and French Embassy in Ukraine. It’s a matter of dialogue between our partners and a question of local choice, depending on whom the Ukrainian audiences want to see. On our part, we will do our best to help implement interesting proposals.
“We believe that new kinds of creativity should be supported in every way, including nonprofit creative endeavors and original projects; we see this as our mission. In addition to the French Cultural Center in Kyiv, we have five branches in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Lviv, and Odesa.”
Mr. Patrick, the “French Spring” has become a popular festival in Ukraine; do you expect a similar Ukrainian project in France?
Patrick Donabedian: I’m pleased to say that our festival has become so popular in Ukraine that your people are eager to know what we will be showing them this time. As for a Ukrainian festival in France, the initiative lies with you, I mean your Ministry of Culture and Art, as well as the Ukrainian Embassy in France. They must raise the funds for the project. We will, of course, help in every way.
A Ukrainian center recently opened in Paris. What do you think should be done to help it function at full capacity? Are the French interested in Ukraine?
Patrick Donabedian: French public interest in Ukraine has noticeably increased since the Orange Revolution; in my opinion, all those who work at the Ukrainian Cultural Center should exploit this opportunity to the utmost. They should work more actively. They may have a limited budget and thus have limitations when they are planning large-scale cultural events, but they could stage indoor and open- air exhibits, organize meetings, roundtables, retrospective film festivals, and so on; these kinds of projects don’t involve heavy spending.
I’ve been working in Ukraine since last fall. I’ve met a number of outstanding personalities, intellectuals, Ukrainian men of letters, scholars, and scientists. Quite recently, during a conversation with my new Ukrainian friends, we discussed the possibility of Ukraine taking part in the Paris and Frankfurt book fairs, by inviting Ukrainian writers as guests of honor. We intend to continue the Skovoroda Program; it’s an interesting kind of cooperation. Some 140 French-Ukrainian book titles have been produced over the past 12 years, so we intend to keep familiarizing your readers with the best samples of our literature. Ukrainian authors are unique in their own way, so our task is to convey their creations to the French public. Here we have a vast field for mutual cultural endeavors.
