Photo contest – Let’s celebrate!

As part of the eleventh edition of the French Spring Festival, the Embassy of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and the network of Alliances Françaises in Sri Lanka and the Maldives are pleased to announce the photography contest open to all amateurs and professionals. 

 

This year’s theme is Celebrate ! as France and Sri Lanka are celebrating its 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The ten best photographs will be selected by an expert jury panel and showcased in a travelling exhibition presented at the Alliance française de Kotte in Colombo and then in the Alliances françaises of Matara and Kandy.               

 

The pictures should engage with the theme and be sent by e-mail at frenchspringfestival2023@gmail.com. Submissions via Wetransfer are allowed. The deadline for submissions is midnight on June 11th. Winners will be contacted personally at the end of June. 

A vernissage of the exhibition will be organized at the Alliance Française de Kotte in Colombo on July 5th in the presence of the juries. The winners will be announced during the vernissage. 

Theme

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and France, this year’s theme is: Celebrate! 

Celebrate is an invitation to seize and appreciate every precious moment that punctuates our lives. Celebrate the bonds that unite us and the encounters that enrich us. To celebrate is to pay homage to the steps we have taken, to the victories of daily life, to the rituals we share and to the beauty that surrounds us. May this gallery of frozen moments be a true ode to celebration!   

 

Terms and conditions

. 10 photographs will be selected by the jury. The 10 selected photos will be the subject of a travelling exhibition presented at the Alliance française de Kotte in Colombo and then in the Alliances françaises of Matara and Kandy.

. The creations presented must be original and related to the theme “Celebrate!”. You must be the author of the photograph. 

. Photos must be sent by e-mail at frenchspringfestival2023@gmail.com. Submissions via Wetransfer are allowed.

. The photos will be printed in large format (50x70cm). Therefore, they must be sent in high definition in JPG or PDF format, for a quality of at least 300 DPI. 

. Only one photo is accepted per candidate.

. Each photo must be accompanied by a title and a description text in English, explaining the story behind the photo and how the photo fits the theme. 

. Participation is free. 

. The name of the 10 winners will appear on the cartel and in the communication on social networks.

 

General conditions

. The competition is open to all amateur and professional photographers residing in Sri Lanka or in Maldives, without age limit. Any unique image from any camera is eligible. 

. For the winners residing outside the city of Colombo, please take into account that transportation and accommodation will be at your expense if you wish to attend the opening or to see the exhibition.

. You must be the author and responsible for the shooting of the submitted image. It is your responsibility to ensure that all necessary permissions have been obtained from any person featured in a photograph. 

. You must agree to transfer the rights of diffusion of the photographs for the duration of the exhibitions in Colombo, Kandy and Matara. The copyright remains the property of the photographer. The printed and framed photographs can be recovered by the artists at the end of the three exhibitions. 

. By participating in this contest, you agree that the Embassy of France, the Alliance Française and its partners may use your images for publication or promotional purposes.  

 

Selection criteria

An international jury will select the winners. The judges will pay attention to the following points: respect of the theme, use of basic and special techniques, composition, originality, subject, overall effect.  

 

Calendar

. Closing date of the call for applications: June 11th 2023 at midnight

. Selection panel: end of June 2023. The 10 selected photographs will be communicated as soon as the jury has made its deliberations.

. Opening of the exhibition: July 5th at the Alliance Française de Kotte in Colombo. The dates of the exhibitions in Kandy and Matara will be communicated later.  

 

Jury

. Prof. (Dr) Indika Ferdinando, Director and Research and Creative Work Development Division at University of the Visual and Performing Arts

. Kisho Kumar, photographer and activist

. Onella Perera, Development Assistant at Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka

. Menika van der Poorten, Cultural practitioner, producer and curator

And as the president of the jury, His Excellency Jean-François Pactet, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

 

Prizes

. For the ten selected photographers: personal invitation to the opening, valid for two people and their printed and framed photograph (returned at the end of the exhibitions). 

. The first three prizes will be announced soon. Stay tuned and follow us on our social networks!

creative art therapies eventbrite

SEMINAR – Creative arts therapies

An introduction to the healing power of Creative Arts
creative art therapies eventbrite

Local and foreign experts in their field will give you an overview and a taste of the most popular creative therapies out there, currently gaining popularity around the world. You’ll gain a basic understanding of art, sound & music, drama & playback, storytelling and dance therapies; what they are, how they work, and why you should give (some of) them a try.

This is an interactive evening of presentations, Q&As and direct experience, that will be followed by a series of workshops for each therapy during the course of June, as well as a finale of improvised artistic co-creations on July 1st.

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SEMINAR – The History of the Indian Ocean by Dr Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

Before the Indo-Pacific: The Many Lives of the Indian Ocean in the twentieth century
seminar indo pacific word press
Before the Indo-Pacific was the Indian Ocean. A vast, semi-enclosed watery space that, for millennia, had served as an interface between what we now call Asia, Africa and the Middle-East, but was by the early 1900s under the sway of colonial empires. The twenty-first century’s invention of the Indo-Pacific—as a concept that puts the ocean at the heart of geopolitics—bears the imprint of the Indian Ocean’s many lives over the twentieth century. First, as a “British Lake”, crisscrossed by the Royal Navy and other maritime powers but also by anti-colonial movements. Next, as a logistical theatre during the Second World War. Later, in the second half of the century, as a space for intensified resource extraction and territorial appropriation, and eventually an arena for Cold War rivalry and Afro-Asian states’ efforts to remake the world order. Dr Bérénice Guyot-Réchard, Associate Professor at King’s College London, will sketch for us these political, cultural, economic, and strategic transformations.
Dr Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

Associate Professor in International History at King’s College, is a historian of South Asia and the Indian Ocean. A specialist of decolonisation, particularly in terms of international politics, she has written extensively on Sino-Indian relations, most notably in Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910-62 (Cambridge University Press, 2016). She is currently working on the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean since 1945.

Kisho Kumar Exhibition – Hills of Neglect

Do not miss Hills of Neglecta powerful photo exhibition by photograph / activist Kisho Kumar showcasing the hardships faced by workers and their families in the tea plantations.

“Hills of Neglect is an art form that showcases the hardships faced by people of the plantation sector in Sri Lanka. Starting with teenage pregnancies, it has covered several other issues based on statistical data. Their stories deserve to be heard.”

🏡 Alliance Française de Colombo, 11, Barnes Place, Colombo 7
📅 03rd to 14th May
🎟️ Free entrance

Guided Visit – Fabienne Francotte Exhibition – 28 April

Friday 28 April, come and discover the exhibition of Fabienne Francotte and her students through a guided visit by the artist!

Fabienne gave painting workshops with the students of the Alliance Française de Kotte and the Ecole Française Internationale de Colombo. The works are exhibited together with Fabienne’s artworks until 30th April in the Alliance’s gallery.


Mural paintings – Open call

To celebrate the FRENCH SPRING FESTIVAL 2023, the Alliance Française of Colombo invites artists to paint the exterior walls of the Alliance, at 11 Barnes Place, Colombo 7. 

Give free rein to your creativity to show us how the meeting between French and Sri Lankan culture inspires you!

The murals must be completed between mid-June and mid-July 2023. All material costs are covered by the Alliance.

Email us your proposals with documentation of your works at: 

direction@alliancefrancaise.lk

Deadline for submissions: 15 May 2023

Dance retreat Call for applications

Voices in Motion, Dance retreat – Open call for registrations

Voices in Motion, a dance retreat for dancers and choreographers

During a 4-day residential dance/choreography retreat from 11 to 16 June 2023 on the South Coast of Sri Lanka, tell your own stories through the medium of dance and be intensively guided by Paul Upali GouëlloRaphael Moussa Hillebrand and Farah Deen.  The project is funded by the Franco-German Cultural Fund. The Fund was set up in 2003 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty of friendship between France and West Germany and it promotes Franco-German cooperation by providing support for cultural and artistic projects.

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ELIGIBILITY & APPLICATION CRITERIA

Requirements:

– Be a dancer/choreographer
– Age 18 or above
– Ability to attend all days from 11 to 16 June 2023
– Willing to share a room with a fellow participant
– Ideally working on an own dance piece based on personal experience
– Application is possible as solo, duo or trio

 

Provided:

– Mentoring by three professionals with different dance style (contemporary, urban, street, hip hop, house), from Germany, France and Austria
– Residential Camp with accommodation and all meals provided
– Transport from and to Colombo
– Option to present a work in progress publicly on 16 June

MENTORS

PAUL UPALI GOUËLLO

French contemporary choreographer and performer who made his own place in the Musical Show Mixity in Paris Montmartre and extensively worked with legendary French choreographers Jean-Claude Gallotta and performer Bruno Agati.

FARAH DEEN

Professional Dancer, Choreographer of Potpourri Dance Company and Artistic Director of Flavourama Festival. Her focus lies on the vernacular dance styles Hip Hop and House Dance.

RAPHAEL MOUSSA HILLEBRAND

Hip Hop choreographer and activist combines theatre with the revolutionary struggle of liberation through art.

HOW TO APPLY?

Please apply to direction@alliancefrancaise.lk and culture-colombo@goethe.de with your CV, a letter of motivation on why you would like to join the retreat and any photo of video links to documentation of previous work.

Deadline: Sunday 14 May 2023

Selected participants will be informed by 22 May 2023

PARTNERS

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Bonjour Cinema - carré + Les belles histoires

Les belles histoires – April

Program  – April 2023
 Come and listen to French stories at the Alliance Française library every Saturday from 12.30 to 1.15pm!
 
Saturday 1 April – 12.30
Boucle d’or mène l’enquête ! By Alexandre Jardin
Adam is a real little scientist, with him no problems, only solutions. The three bears have disappeared so he dives into the book to help Goldilocks solve this mystery! Our ingenious duo is ready to do anything to find them.
 
Saturday 8 April – 12.30
Charlotte partout by Mireille Messier
Aunt Katie flies around the world. Charlotte town, Charlotte Pass, Charlotte Bay: there are places called “Charlotte” everywhere. And our own Charlotte? Will she find a place to name in her honor?
 
Saturday 22 April – 12.30
Les cahiers d’Annette by Elise Turcotte
Annette finds her life banal. She would like to live incredible experiences. It is by writing in a notebook all the little moments that she has experienced that she discovers that these “little nothings” are less banal than she thought.
 
Saturday 29 April – 12.30
Le grand rôle de Marilou Polaire by Raymond Plante
Marilou Polaire and her friends put on a play at school. They play La Cicada et La Fourmi. Marilou will be the Cicada. But a Cicada who finds the fate that Jean de la Fontaine reserved for him very unfair. Marilou will find her own finale to the show. Much happier!
 
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Fabienne Francotte Exhibition – 30 March to 30 April

Discover the exhibition of the Belgian artist Fabienne Francotte at the gallery of the Alliance Française from March 30th to April 30th.

Fabienne is giving painting workshops with the students of the Alliance Française de Kotte and the Ecole Française Internationale de Colombo.

Drawing is a beautiful form of language. In the making, out of the standards, Fabienne invites the participants of the workshop to embark on an unpredictable journey. The one leading to the unexpected, to “not to be in control” while shaping nature, calligraphy, maps of our surroundings. She provides a peaceful space where freedom and self confidence allow everyone to explore and express himself/ herself. 

The works will be exhibited together with Fabienne’s artworks from 30th march in the Alliance’s gallery.

Alliance Française de Colombo

11, Barnes Place,

Colombo 07

Bonjour Cinema - carré

Bonjour Cinéma – March / April

Programme  – March / April 2023
More and more French movies for all !
Come and discover Alliance française’s and Institut Français’ nuggets of French-speaking cinema, comedies, literary adaptations, animated films and short films.
BONJOUR CINEMA : every Thursday at 6pm
BONJOUR CINEMA KIDS: now every Saturday at 3 p.m.!
(except public holidays)
Free entrance
 
BONJOUR CINEMA
Thurs. 02 March, 6pm
La Douleur
Fiction / Emmanuel Finkiel, 2018
 
Thurs. 09 Mars, 6pm
Illusions perdues – Fête de la Francophonie
Adaptation / Xavier Gianolli, 2021. 2h30
 
Thurs. 16 Mars, 6pm
Fête du court Métrage – Fête de la Francophonie
Sélection de 6 courts métrages
 
Thurs. 23 Mars, 6pm
Eugénie Grandet – Fête de la Francophonie
Adaptation / Marc Dugain, 2021. 1h27
 
Thurs. 30 Mars, 6pm
Arthur Rambo – Fête de la Francophonie
Fiction /  Laurent Cantet, 2021. 2h05
 
Thurs. 06 April, 6pm
Les 2 Alfred
Fiction / Bruno Podalydès, 2020, 1h32
 
Thurs. 20 April, 6pm
La fine fleur
Fiction / Pierre Pinaud, 2020, 1h34
 
Thurs. 27 April, 6pm
Énorme
Fiction / Sophie Letourneur, 2020, 1h41

 

BONJOUR CINEMA KIDS 
Sat. 11 March, 3pm
Akissi, yn drôle de petit frère
Fiction – Animation / Alexandre Coste, 2020, 26mn
 
Sat. 18 March, 3pm
Fête du Court métrage
15 animated short films of 3 min each.

Sat. 01 April, 3pm
La vie de château
Animation / Clémence M. Perdrillat, 2019, 29mn
 
Sat. 08 April., 3pm
Vanille
Fiction – Animation / Guillaume Lorin, 2020. 31mn
 
Sat. 22 April, 3pm
L’Extraordinaire voyage de Marona
Animation / Anca Damian, 2019, 1h33
 
Sat. 29 April, 3pm
Minga et la cuillère cassée
Fiction – Animation / Claye Edou, 2017, 1h20