Slimmer, slicker, spicier

  A number of fans of the annual French-Thai cultural festival known as La Fete were expecting the event to be staged in the same February slot it has enjoyed for the last two years.. Instead, we were treated to one major part of it, the Clap! French Film Festival. The French Embassy, led by the head of its cultural division Jeremy Opritesco and cultural attache Benoit Etienne, have decided that it’s a better idea to separate the two and make La Fete shorter, so that there are many other activities during different parts of the year. And for that we thank them: after all, we all know that sweet treats are best enjoyed over a longer period.

 Opritesco notes that because of this new curatorial direction, “The attendance at the film festival was higher than of previous years’.”

At last year’s press conference for La Fete, Opritesco hinted at a new direction that would encourage more collaboration between artists of the two countries, and hence live up to its festival moniker. He and Etienne have kept their promise. 

“We are giving more priority not only to collaboration but also to exchanges,” says Opritesco. “And this takes more time in the planning than simply presenting shows coming directly from France. For example, we have a puppetry performance scheduled for next year, and the Thai troupe is already in residency in France.”

The collaboration and exchanges are highlighted right from the festival’s opening event, Francis Poulenc’s comic opera “Les Mamelles de Tiresias” at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

Opritesco notes, “It’s a very typical French opera and the music will be performed by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with French conductor Nicolas Kruger and soprano Pauline Courtin. The direction and the mise en scene are by the Thai company NUNi (Never Underestimate New Ideas), and they give a very Thai interpretation to this very French opera.

“Another real collaboration is the concert ‘Limousine Siam Roads’. Limousine is a typically French music group who performs a mix of pop, jazz and folk. They spent a few months in Northeastern Thailand working with mor lam singer Yodh Warong. But it’s not really a fusion. They tried to get all the theory and the rhythms together then released an album together. They’re really respecting each other’s styles. Their recent concert in France was also very successful as the two music styles are very complementary – the French get more rhythm and the Thais more melody.”

This concert is one-evening only at Sonic Cafe in Ekamai, while the accompanying photography exhibition “Siam Roads” by Agnes Dherbeys who documented the French group’s journey will be showcased for a week at Cafe Chez Pepin on Soi Suan Phlu. This proves, once again, that La Fete is not only intercultural but also interdisciplinary. 

In fact, La Fete will also show us how arts and sciences co-exist in our life.

“The scientific exhibition ‘Water at the Heart of Science’, created by Institut Francais and Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement and Centre Sciences, at the National Science Museum in Chamchuri Square is where you can enjoy hands-on experiments as well as watch Yann Arthus Bertrand’s film ‘A Thirsty World’. I’m sure many Thais will remember his exhibition ‘Earth from Above’, which we displayed in front of CentralWorld. This will take place a week after the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Chiang Mai. Again, it’s a way of mixing local sensibilities.”

Another initiative is “La Nuit des Galeries–A travers Bangkok”, about which Opritesco says, “We got the inspiration from ‘Nuit Blanche’ in Paris but it’s quite different as ‘Nuit Blanche’ has a curator. We’re working with 15 to 20 art galleries in the Silom and Thonglor areas, which will be open late on Saturday, June 1, and trying to organise some special events here and there. We’re publishing a map and hopefully people will hop around between 6.42pm and 12.42am.”

“During the day of the same weekend, the internationally renowned Bangkok-based French bronze sculpture artist Val will also open her new studio [in Khlong Chan] to the public.”

Opritesco gives another example of local input, the photography exhibition “Vertical/Horizontal, Interieur/Exterieur” by Francoise Huguier who has captured the architectural and personal environment of the middle class in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Thailand. He notes that this major work at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre “will give the audience more of a local perspective”.

Moving the festival back to the original time frame of May and June also means that La Fete can share some major productions with their larger counterparts in China and Hong Kong. One of the most talked about contemporary dance events in the last few years, “Yo Gee Ti” will have a one-evening-only date at the Aksra Theatre as part of its Asian tour.

This is a major collaboration between Taiwan’s NTCH National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Centre and France’s Centre Choregraphique National de Creteil et du Val-de-Marne, led by Cie Kafig’s Mourad Merzouki whose “Wasteland” was part of La Fete in 2007. With Taiwanese contemporary dancers sharing the stage with French hip-hop dancers all dressed in knitwear by a Taiwanese designer who also decorates the stage with his special textiles, the work not only crosses dance disciplines but shows the relationship between textiles and performing arts. After its world premiere at last year’s Taiwan International Festival of Arts, “Yo Gee Ti” performed to popular success and critical acclaim in major dance festivals in Montpellier and Lyon, among other cities

“This will be a good example of what we’re trying to do now – the French-Thai collaboration which we hope to tour around the region [the way ‘Yo Gee Ti’ is doing]. Merzouki will also be a jury member of the hip-hop battle here and so hopefully he can continue to work with some of Thai dancers.”

In addition, Pierre Rigal will make the third visit to La Fete in four years with his multi-disciplinary collaboration with Aurelien Bory “Erection”. Also being staged following cancellation last year due to injury is Dominique Boivin’s “Transports Exceptionnels”, in which he dances with an excavator. As always, music fans can look forward to Fete de la Musique, which will feature trip-hop producer Wax Tailor.

  BOOK NOW

- La Fete runs from May 17 to June 22 at various venues across Bangkok.

- Many events are free. For tickets, book at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

- Visit www.LaFete-Bangkok.com.