EUROPEAN CULTURAL DAYS of the ECB – France 2012

17 October to 14 November

This year the spotlight of the EUROPEAN CULTURAL DAYS of the European Central Bank (ECB) falls on France. The four-week-programme, organised in cooperation with the Banque de France and held under the joint patronage of Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, and Christian Noyer, Governor of the Banque de France, will showcase some of France’s most exciting and innovative cultural talents. A varied programme of events will be presented at well-known cultural venues across Frankfurt am Main.

Highlights of this year’s programme include:

MUSIC

• Les Talens Lyriquesone of the best-known baroque ensembles in France, will be opening the CULTURAL DAYS on 17 October at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, with a concert presenting French pieces from 1680 to 1750.
• On 10 November Le Cercle de l’Harmonie will perform a charity concert at Hermann Josef Abs Saal co-organised by the ECB, the Banque de France and the City of Frankfurt. The orchestra will perform pieces by Mozart, Haydn, Rigel, Cherubini and Hérold. Donations from this charity event will go to “DIE FRANKFURTER LESEPATEN”, an initiative that offers learning assistance to primary school children from families with different cultural backgrounds by helping them to improve their reading skills.
• The French musical duo Brigitte (Sylvie Hoarau and Aurélie Saada) will perform new French chanson at the Gallus Theater on 3 November. The duo was awarded the Victoire de la Musique (French music award) for “Groupe ou artiste révélation scène” (breakthrough stage act) in 2012.
• The opening night of the 43rd Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt 2012organised by Hessischer Rundfunk (hr2 kultur) and the City of Frankfurt, will take place on 25 October in cooperation with the CULTURAL DAYS, with performances by Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, Henri Texier, Christophe Marguet, Jean-Luc Ponty and Yaron Herman.

LITERATURE

• “Love, lust and murder” will be the theme of the French literature events at the Literaturhaus Frankfurt. On 6 November Bernard Minier will present his thriller “Schwarzer Schmetterling” (original title “Glacé”). The authors Philippe Djian and Virginie Despentes will be holding a literary discussion at the Literaturhaus on 7 November.

FILM

• Two cycles of French cinema weeks will be presented at the Deutsches Filmmuseum. The first, starting on 20 October, will feature the well-known Carole Bouquetwho will be attending on 28 October. The second film cycle will start on 1 November. A series of films focusing on immigration to France will be screened, under the heading “People in motion”. On 4 November film producer Hiner Saleem will attend the screening of his movie “Si tu meurs, je te tue” (“If you die, I’ll kill you”).

EXHIBITIONS

• From 6 October 2012 to 13 January 2013 the Deutsches Architekturmuseum will host an exhibition by architects Druot, Lacaton & Vassal entitled “ Transformation of a 1960s Residential Highrise”. This exhibition documents an innovative project that fosters sustainable development.
• The design exhibition “C’est pas mon genre!”, which showcases the emerging trends in contemporary French design by exploring the complex and multifaceted relationship between women and design, will be held at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, in cooperation with the Ecole Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Etienne, from 20 October until 2 December.
• Latifa Echakhch will present an installation on the “Maininsel des Portikus” (Portikus Island) from 3 November until February 2013. In her artwork, she explores cultural differences in societies made more and more alike by the force of globalisation.

NEW FRENCH CIRCUS

• For the first time in the history of the CULTURAL DAYS, the grand closing event will feature a circus production. The French circus Compagnie XY will perform “Le Grand C” at the Gesellschaftshaus im Palmengarten on 14 November. Seventeen performers will create a 360 degree parallel universe of acrobatics, dance, music and human pyramids.

The ECB and the Banque de France look forward to this year’s CULTURAL DAYS as an ongoing contribution to raising awareness of Europe’s unique cultural wealth and diversity and fostering cultural exchanges among Europeans.

The complete programme for the CULTURAL DAYS of the ECB – France 2012 is available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu/culturaldays. Further information about the events can be obtained by sending an e-mail to cultural-days@ecb.europa.eu or calling the Cultural Days hotline on +49 69 1344 5555 (Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).