Cultural cooperation, literature and debates

Presentation

The French Institute in Egypt focuses on valuing joint projects between professionals and artists of the French and Egyptian cultural sectors, as well as to the structuration of the art scene.

As such, the Mounirat al Fan program allows for the training and supporting of young professional talents in technical stage professions. It is conducted in collaboration with the SEE Foundation, Ezbet Kheirallah School in Cairo, the Rencontres à l’échelle festival and the Mediterranean Institute for the Performing Arts, both based in Marseille.

The triennial convention (2020-2022) signed with the Sud Region is a concrete endeavor that structures the exchanges between a number of operators on both territories: Aflam, Meditalents, Rencontres à l’échelle, Friche Belle de Mai, Ô les beaux jours, Institut Méditerranéen des Métiers du Spectacle côté Région Sud, Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (DCAF), B’Sarya cultural center, Ezbet Kheirallah School, côté Egypte.

Ties with the Normandie Region are also very strong, notably on the occasion of Gustave Flaubert’s bicentenary birth, after a short story contest aimed at high schoolers, students and teachers. This multidisciplinary project inspired by Flaubert’s “Voyage en Orient” constitutes the first step of a structuring and long-term cooperation with the Normandie Region.

Villa Champollion and cultural stays

Artist residency is a major tool for creation, notably between two shores. In Egypt, the residency program offered by the IFE is gathered under the name “Villa Champollion,” and covers a host of disciplines as well as locations that bind territories together:

In France, the IFE also part of the residency program by the Cité internationale des arts (International City of Arts) in Paris and the French Institute. This program in intended for creators who wish to develop a research and creation project for a period of 3 to 6 months. Between 2017 and 2021, Egyptian visual artists, musicians, cultural operators and cartoonists have stayed in France as part of the residency program.

The Institute also enables artists and cultural actors to stay in France through programs such as « Courants du monde », « Séjour culture » et « Profession culture » financed by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, and “FOCUS” stays offered by the French Institute in Paris. French professionals also regularly visit Egypt to animate trainings in cinema, arts, music, dancing and theater.