Culture and Education

Culture

Cultural relations in the arts between France and the United Kingdom focus on all contemporary art forms. Both countries have a sound understanding of each others’ cultural heritage, but living artists
-  who contribute to shaping our contemporary society
-  have little opportunity to travel between the two countries.

We aim to promote cultural understanding between France and Britain, and our day-to-day work centres on encouraging professional exchange between artists and those working in the arts in both countries and on developing multilateral relations within a broader European context.

Alongside this network-building activity, we also support and initiate events bringing contemporary French art, in all its forms, to the British public. In 2005, in collaboration with the London dance festival Dance Umbrella, we organised a contemporary French dance festival, France Moves, which saw 11 French dance companies perform at a selection of London’s top dance venues. In 2006 we organised a season of contemporary art from France, Paris Calling. Held between June and December, spread across 23 contemporary art venues in London, and comprising over 30 exhibitions, Paris Calling is the result of three years of research trips and professional exhcange

After the US and India, UK distributors buy more films from France than from any other country. French films are screened at festivals all over Britain. Eighty new French feature films are screened annually in the ’French Revolutions’ section of the prestigious Times London Film Festival, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and at the French Film Festival, a touring festival co-organised by Unifrance showcasing new French films aquired by UK distributors.

The French Book Office UK, a department of the French Embassy in London, promotes French literature in Great Britain.

The primary role of the Book Office in London is to support British publishers who wish to publish French books by recommending French fiction and non-fiction titles. Its selection can be found on the website www.frenchbooknews.com, which also includes directories of translators and French publishers, contacts, lists and links to festivals, and information on literary papers and prizes. The website is run in collaboration with the French Book Office USA, and presents monthly profiles of French writers, publishers and booksellers.

The Book Office UK also backs British publishers who translate French works by providing grants that cover part of the financial cost of translation. In 2005 it helped to translate and publish more than 30 French books, including novels by Irène Némirovsky, André Malraux, Alice Ferney and Pierre Mérot and non-fiction titles by Alain Badiou, Gilles Lipovetsky and Elisabeth Badinter. Further information about the Burgess Grants can be found on www.frenchbooknews.com

The Book Office UK also organises weekly literary events at the IFRU and works in association with British publishers to help them launch French books translated into English or English books about France.

Education in the UK

France and England face very similar challenges and issues in relation to education and training. Both countries have, over a number of years, worked together to share information on policy and practice and to try to develop lasting partnerships between individuals, institutions and organisations in the fields of education and training which contribute to the meeting of common objectives such as the teaching of modern foreign languages and the mutual understanding of our respective cultures.

A joint Memorandum of Understanding for a partnership programme related to co-operation on education and training was first signed in 2003, and again in 2006. This partnership will lead to the accelerated development of successful joint projects already underway, and to a range of new and innovative projects, with particular regard to the introduction in both countries of modern foreign language teaching in primary schools.

Within the new MOU, England and France have confirmed their commitment to work together on:

- developing partnerships between secondary schools to promote the teaching and learning of modern foreign languages and the promotion of joint work in Arts and Sport;
- generally encouraging pupil and teacher mobility and increasing the number of language assistants working in both countries;
- supporting modern foreign language learning in the Primary Sector, including the development of school partnerships, curriculum projects, teacher and pupil visits;
- co-operating in professional and vocational education and training including professional development for teachers in initial and continued teacher training;
- co-operating on and increasing exchanges on policy and practice issues of common interest such as school leadership, pupils’ anti-social behaviour;
- using information and communications technology in the implementation of the above.

Three million British secondary school pupils currently study French, the most popular foreign language in the United Kingdom.


Cultural institutions

In London

The most prominent French cultural institution in the United Kingdom is undoubtedly the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni (IFRU), situated in South Kensington, close to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. Founded in 1910, it is the official French government centre of language and culture in London, and its history is a striking example of close Franco-British cooperation. One of the world’s leading French Institutes, the Institut is an attractive and modern complex, spread over two sites, comprising a language centre, cinema, multi-media library and a French Brasserie. Today the Institut boasts more than 3,500 members and 100,000 visitors a year, 56 % of whom are British (28 % French and 16 % other nationalities).

About 7,000 students per year learn French as a foreign language at the Institut Language Centre, located in Cromwell Place, with a staff of more than 70, all native French speakers and qualified teachers. Over the years, the Language Centre has expanded its programme, adding and adapting courses to meet the needs of its students. As a result, it goes beyond mere language teaching to cover the cultural, business and professional aspects of French, offering highly specialised, or even tailor-made " à la carte" sessions.

The Médiathèque (multi-media library), based at IFRU’s Cultural Centre at 17 Queensberry Place, is a window onto contemporary France. Visitors can consult the extensive collections of multimedia documents, or contact the resource centre for information about France. Access the on-line catalogue.

In March 1998, Catherine Deneuve officially christened the cinema of the Institut Français, the Ciné Lumière. An independent showcase for the very best in French, European and world cinema, Ciné lumière shows a mix of new releases, classics, documentaries and animation films. Its repertory features over 900 screenings a year. Directors, scriptwriters and actors are regularly invited to take part in discussions with the audience, and such special events as festivals, retrospectives and UK premieres are a frequent feature of its programme. A public cinema with 300 seats, Ciné lumière is open to everyone and films are shown in their original language with English subtitles.

Leading French and British writers, historians and luminaries also frequently come to the Institut to present their work in conferences, seminars, round-table discussions and interdisciplinary festivals.

The French Music Bureau, specializing in French pop music, was set up in May 1999 at the Institut français. Liaising with the French cultural network, the Bureau acts as an intermediary between French and English music professionals (distributors, labels, promoters, media, agents, etc.)

Outside London

There are a whole network of institutions outside of London promoting Franco-British partnerships and cross-cultural exchange. The Institut Français d’Ecosse in Edinburgh and the Maison Française in Oxford play roughly the same role as the Institut in London. They do more than disseminate French culture in the United Kingdom: their aim is to ’mediate between the two cultures’, just as their British counterpart, the British Council does in France. Not all institutions promoting French language and culture are run by the French government. The 50 Alliance Française Meeting Groups and 13 Alliance Française Teaching Centres are part-funded only by the government. The biggest centres outside of London are in Glasgow and Manchester.

In France

The British Council which has worked in France since 1944 is responsible for implementing the 1948 Cultural Convention between the United Kingdom and France. Its Paris centre was completely renovated in 1998 to reflect the contemporary nature of the UK and re-opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair. It includes a Young Learners’ Centre which teaches English to 1,000 students from the ages of 5 to 18 and is a centre of excellence for teaching English as a European language at primary and secondary level. This is particularly important at a time when France has reintroduced modern language teaching into primary schools. An original feature of British cultural presence in France is the partnership, within the British Cultural Centre in Paris, between the British Council and a fully-fledged department of the University of London: the British Institute in Paris.

Specialised website :

- For information regarding higher education in France, please visit the following website: www.campusfrance.org.
- www.frenchbooknews.com The Book Office UK organizes literary events and promotes French literature in the UK. The website offers a selection of French titles and French books recently translated into English, as well as monthly profiles of French writers and publishers.