A year-long cultural entente cordiale
A YEAR-LONG celebration of culture, performance and music, designed to forge new connections between Wales and France is coming to an end but its legacy is set to continue.
The past 12 months have seen a showcasing of events in France as part of Welsh Government’s dedicated focus on links between the countries as part of the £100,000, Wales-France Cultural Fund.
The events have been delivered thanks to funding from British Council Wales in partnership with the Arts Council of Wales, Wales Arts International and Welsh Government.
The Cultural Fund’s aim is to build sustainable culture links and nurture long term relationships. Some of the work will come into fruition beyond March and it is hoped the relationship between the two nations will continue to grow.
For the grand finale of the Wales in France year, a Van Gogh self-portrait, Portrait of the Artist (1887), will be on show at National Museum Cardiff from tomorrow until January 24 next year. This is thanks to a reciprocal art swap with Musée D’Orsay, Paris. This is the first time the Van Gogh self-portrait has ever visited Wales. In exchange, Amgueddfa Cymru’s much-loved La Parisienne by Renoir, also known as ‘The Blue Lady,’ will in return make its journey across the Channel.
As part of the Cultural Fund, six artists and organisations from Wales, are being supported to collaborate with French creatives to develop new work across a range of artforms.
Also tomorrow, in Newport, a short film called The Game, will be shown in the city’s indoor market exploring the emotions linked to playing and watching rugby. Operasonic, based in the city, which creates opportunities for people to tell stories and music, has been working with young people across the city, in collaboration with earlycareer French and Welsh music professionals to produce the film.
The film, also shown last weekend at the market, will be shown between noon and 2.30pm, then 4pm and 7pm, with performances by Operasonic Young Associates throughout the day.
Recently musician Gruff Rhys – of Super Furry Animals fame – performed a special-one off concert at Le Solaris in Paris, featuring his latest album Sadness Set Me Free, which features French musicians.
Next Friday – March 22 – Cardiffbased theatre company Hijinx will premiere its show Bon Appétit in the French city of Lille. Hijinx creates opportunities for actors with learning disabilities and/or autism. Their new show is a clown and puppetry performance, developed with neurodivergent artists in Wales and France’s Compagnie de L’Oiseau Mouche. The creative team includes four learning disabled artists, two from Wales and two from France.
During three days of workshops in each country, artists explored puppetry and clown techniques, engaging in in-depth discussions about their connections with France, Wales, and identity. The exchange was funded by British Council Wales and a further two weeks of workshops have been held in Wales recently.
The companies were inspired by the connections formed among artists and the potential for collaboration on a performance.
In France, part of the exchange revolved around food provided by the venue’s chefs for mealtimes. The traditional start to a meal in France is ‘bon appétit’, however in Wales, there is neither a Welsh nor an English direct translation for the term, which intrigued their French friends. This linguistic anomaly has served as a starting point to explore both cultures’ connections with food.
The project will conclude with a performative sharing to a limited audience at L’Oiseau-Mouche’s venue in Lille on Friday.
Ruth Cocks, director of British Council Wales, speaking about the legacy of the Cultural Fund. says: “The Wales in France Cultural Fund has created new connections, strengthened existing cultural ties and is supporting projects in both Wales and France, giving artists and cultural organisations in both countries the opportunity to collaborate creatively and develop lasting relationships.
“It’s wonderful to see the fantastic creative work resulting from these collaborations. All six projects are unique and will help develop and sustain vital links between both our countries, supporting artists and organisations to explore ways of working internationally, grow their networks, gain fresh perspectives and reach new audiences.”
She adds: “Wales has such a special history with France, as our close neighbours, and with our shared Celtic identities, the links between our languages, music and culture, the year of Wales in France has been a fantastic opportunity to strengthen cultural connections between our countries and support mutually beneficial relationships. The Cultural Fund has helped to develop Welsh artistic and cultural networks in France, as well as showcasing Welsh culture, heritage and language to new audiences, building Wales’s recognition globally and enabling Welsh creatives to show off their incredible talents on an international stage.”
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “Through the cultural fund, Welsh creatives have been able to collaborate with our French friends, flourish in their art, and show off their incredible talents on an international stage.”