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CULTURAL/EVENTS AGENDA
JUNE 2011
This agenda presents a selection of French or French-related events in the Midwest.
For a complete calendar of events for the French and French-speaking associations
in your area, please visit their respective web sites.
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GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL: OPENING NIGHT SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE WITH FRENCH PIANIST JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARD
June 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Summer begins with two thrilling French musical explorations by Grant Park Orchestra: Ravel’s encounter with American jazz performed by the great pianist Jean-Philippe Collard and Berlioz’s epic voyage into heartbreak and hallucination conducted by Carlos Kalmar. This event will take place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and is free and open to the public.
Program : Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Complete information. |
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SAVE THE DATE! NOT TO BE MISSED!
JUNE 21: MAKE MUSIC CHICAGO |
Make Music Chicago is a live, one-day music festival on the first day of summer that celebrates the ability of everyone to make music. People of all ages, music of all genres, and amateurs, part-time professionals, and marquee artists will gather throughout the day in Chicago’s public spaces (selected sites) to engage in spontaneous music making. The festival is presented by Rush Hour Concerts at St. James Cathedral and is completely free for musicians and audience alike.
Make Music Chicago is inspired by France’s “Fête de la Musique,” a national musical holiday marking its 30th anniversary this year. Since 1982, “Fête de la Musique” has become an international phenomenon, taking place on June 21 in more than 460 cities in 110 countries. |
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Click here to know more, register to perform or volunteer.
In partnership with the Consulate General of France in Chicago, 98.7 WFMT, Alliance Française de Chicago, Chicago Sister Cities International. |
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ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
June 25 - July 3
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of stories written by Arabic writers from tales gathered in India, Persia and across the great Arab Empire. In turns erotic, brutal, witty, poetic and complex, the tales of One Thousand and One Nights tell of love and marriage, power and punishment, rich and poor, and the endless trials and uncertainties of fate. The great cities and thriving trade routes of the Islamic world provide the setting for these stories that employ supernatural mystery and intense realism to portray the deep and endless drama of human experience.
Complete information. |
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DOWNTOWN SOUND: NEW MUSIC MONDAYS - KINGS GO FORTH & BEN L'ONCLE SOUL
June 20th at 6:30 PM - FREE |
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The highly anticipated free concert series, Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays, returns to Millennium Park for a third summer, featuring an eclectic mix of music discoveries, cutting-edge indie rock, pop bands and rock veterans. Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, the series will includes ten double-bill concerts on Monday nights, running until July 25, 2011. |
On June 20th, straight from Tours, France, Ben L’Oncle Soul is sure to delight your ears and melt your heart. Ben L’Oncle Soul (aka Benjamin Duterde) combines both English and French into his lyrics and blends soul and blues into his melodies and instrumentation. His retro look serves as a perfect compliment to his warm and genuinely affectionate vocal style that provides a strong reminiscence of the golden age of soul.
Complete information - Millenium Park. |
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MOTOR COCKTAIL: SOUND AND MOVEMENT IN THE ART OF THE 1960's
July 2 - October 30, 2011
Motor Cocktail brings together artists from the 1960s in the MCA's Collection who used sound and movement to directly engage individuals within mass consumer society and draw them into an immediate sensual experience with the artworks. Jean Tinguely's Motor Cocktail (1965), fully restored for this exhibition and on view for the first time in 30 years, is one of the exhibition's focal points. Constructed from scrap metal, the sculpture sets a metal rooster in raucous motion, rotating in harmony with movement of the sun's jagged disc. In marked contrast is François and Bernard Baschet's musical sculpture Aluminum Piano (1962), which "plays like a piano and sounds like a glockenspiel." Since the 1950s, the Baschet brothers began systematically inventing new acoustic instruments that defy easy classification as either visual or musical art. But they share with Tinguely a desire to creatively engage the individual.
Complete information - Museum of Contemporary Art – Chicago. |
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SOUVENIRS OF THE BARBIZON: PHOTOGRAPHS, PAINTINGS, AND WORKS ON PAPER
July 2–September 25, 2011 |
| Painting and photography blossomed into fully corollary practices not long after photography’s invention was announced in 1839. That fruitful relationship is exemplified by a group of works made in France’s Barbizon region. Easily accessible by train from Paris as early as 1849, the Barbizon and its Forest of Fontainebleau flourished as a destination, and the inspiring rural landscape fostered a collegial atmosphere. Photographers, often trained as painters, composed images in response to oil sketches or drawings made outdoors or en plein air. Simultaneously, painters began using naturalistic photographs as aides-mémoire for future canvases. More realistic than sketches and more reproducible than paintings, photographs enjoyed wide circulation, popularizing and echoing compositions from the 1850s and 1860s by Jean-François Millet, while inspiring others by the likes of Camille Pissarro in the 1870s. |
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Complete information - The Art Insitute of Chicago.
Photo: Giraudon's Artist. Woman Standing with Basket on Ground, c. 1875–80. Restricted gift of Anstiss and Ronald Krueck in honor of Matthew S. Witkovsky. |
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UNTIL JULY: INTERNATIONAL VOICES PROJECT
Premiere Theatre & Performance (PTAP) presents its second annual concert reading series in collaboration with 8 foreign consulates and cultural institutions throughout the Chicagoland area. THE 2011 INTERNATIONAL VOICES PROJECT will run until July 12th. These one night concert readings will highlight the voices of global writers, and provide audiences the opportunity to experience rarely seen plays and playwrights from around the world. Complete information and schedule of events. |
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THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO LAUNCHES FIRST MOBILE APP SHOWCASING PERMANENT COLLECTION OF FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST ART
One of the Finest Collections of 19th Century French Art - Now Globally Accessible on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and iPad.
The Art Institute of Chicago and Toura are pleased to announce the release of the museum's first mobile app, created to showcase its renowned permanent collection of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. The Art Institute holds one of the most important collections of 19th-century French art in the world, and the museum is now making these iconic images, and accompanying audio and visual learning tools, available globally through a partnership with Toura--a leading mobile application platform provider.
Complete information. |
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RFI IN THE UNITED STATES
RFI has signed an agreement with AudioNow to broadcast its French programs on the telephone network, 24 hours a day, in 5 American cities: Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami and New York City. You can now listen to RFI in Chicago by calling the following phone number (only local charges will apply): 312.646.7684. On November 15 2009, 6 more U.S. cities will be added to the list including, New Orleans, Lafayette, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington D.C. where RFI will be available 24 hours a day in French. Read the press release. |
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MORE EVENTS
Agenda culturel pour la région de Chicago / Cultural Agenda for the Chicago area: LIAISON
Evénements économiques / Economic Events: ECONOMIE/BUSINESS |
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INCENDIES directed by Denis Villeneuve
June 16-18
A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.
Indiana University Summer Festival of Arts
Complete information. |
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THE OLD MASTERS
Through December 31, 2011
The Old Masters provides a quick tour of the history of printmaking from 1470 to 1800 through a selection of 51 of the finest examples from the IMA’s collection of Old Master prints. Works by Dürer, Goltzius, Callot, Rembrandt, and Goya, among others, show how the graphic arts developed as an important form of personal artistic expression.
Conant Galleries, The Indianapolis Museum of Art. |
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COMING UP IN JULY!
INDIANAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
July 14-24 |
Since 2004, the Indy Film Fest has quickly grown into one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing and most-watched film festivals — and one of the most valued annual cultural events in the city. With attendance growing every year, we continue to deepen our impact on the city and the film community worldwide. Featuring the best in independent and innovative film from both award-winning professionals and emerging filmmakers, we’ve exhibited films from nearly every state in the country and more than 50 countries around the globe.
Complete information - Indianapolis Museum of Art |
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INCENDIES directed by Denis Villeneuve
Opens June 10
When notary Lebel (Rémy Girard) sits down with Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette) to read them their mother's will Nawal (Lubna Azabal), the twins are stunned to receive a pair of envelopes - one for the father they thought was dead and another for a brother they didn't know existed. With Lebel's help, the twins piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate forever marked by war and hatred as well as the courage of an exceptional woman.
Complete information - Fleur Cinema |
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AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE WICHITA ART MUSEUM
Ongoing Exhibition
This exhibition brings together many of the stunning Impressionist paintings from the Museum’s collection including Mary Cassatt’s Mother and Child.
Complete information. |
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BREATHLESS directed by Jean-Luc Godard (1959)
June 11 at 2 p.m.
Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1959) – the story of a petty hoodlum (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his girlfriend (Jean Seberg) on the streets of Paris – was one of the most revolutionary and influential films of the French New Wave.
Complete information - Detroit Film Theatre |
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THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966)
June 25 at 4 p.m. |
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This groundbreaking and still-controversial work (it was recently screened at the Pentagon as part of a program called “how to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas”), Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers is a fierce and riveting recreation of the Algerian rebellion against occupying French troops in the 1950s. Its brilliantly orchestrated scenes of urban warfare, sabotage and mayhem are prevented from becoming abstract by the screenplay’s focus on individual stories as they play out within this maelstrom. One of the most influential films of the modern era, The Battle of Algiers marches forward with awesome cinematic skill, abetted by gritty, documentary-like cinematography and Ennio Morricone’s gripping score.
Complete information. |
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HD OPERA - MANON
June 30 at 6 p.m.
Based on L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost (Amsterdam, 1731), it follows the original more closely than most other operas on the same topic. |
It tells the tale of two adolescents —an attractive young girl on her way to a convent and a provincial nobleman who has fallen madly in love with her— who elope to Paris. There life’s harsh realities uncover their true characters. Jules Massenet’s Manon has a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. It is an opéra-comique in five acts, divided into six scenes, and was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1884. It triumphed from the very first night and has remained a paradigm of French opera, as was illustrated by the medallion to French opera which could be seen over the Liceu stage prior to the 1994 fire. It was first performed at the Liceu in 1894 and has been staged there 130 times in all. Sung in French with English subtitles.
Complete information. |
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GOD OF CARNAGE by Yasmina Reza translated by Christopher Hampton directed by John Miller-Stephany
May 28- August 7
God of Carnage is a self-proclaimed “comedy of manners ... without manners” in which the parents of two boys involved in a playground scuffle meet to discuss, logically and amiably, how to deal with the boys. As the evening goes on, the meeting degenerates into the four parents spiraling into irrational arguments, and their discussion falls into the loaded topics of misogyny, racial prejudice and homophobia. The insults they throw at each other are priceless. Loyalty becomes a disposable commodity as spouses turn on spouses and new alliances are formed and dissolved.
Complete Information - McGuire Proscenium Stage. |
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MORE EVENTS
Agenda culturel pour la région de Chicago / Cultural Agenda for the Chicago area: LIAISON
Evénements économiques / Economic Events: ECONOMIE/BUSINESS |
THE ART OF ADVERTISING
Through July 17 |
The posters in this exhibition accomplish the goals of advertising while employing the dynamic visual language of late 19th- and early 20th-century European art. Artists Alphonse Mucha, Pierre Bonnard and Jules Chéret in France, and Johan Thorn Prikker and Henry van de Velde in Germany, designed beautiful, effective posters for a wide range of products and events. Their work speaks the visual language of Art Nouveau or Jugendstil, the turn-of-the-century style characterized by asymmetrical compositions, elongated forms, planar color and organic line. The posters of 20th-century French artists Henri Matisse, Charles Kiffer and Charles Gesmar embrace the striking language of modernity: radically simplified compositions, streamlined forms and vivid color.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - Free Admission.
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| Image: Charles Gesmar, French, 1900-1928. Mistinguett: A La Rose, Moulin Rouge, ca. 1926. Color-lithographed poster. |
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MONET'S WATER LILIES
Through August 7
Monet's Water Lilies will re-unite the three panels of one of Claude Monet's most richly colored late Water Lilies triptychs, created between 1915 and 1926. One of only two triptychs by Monet in the United States, this exhibition brings together the panels owned by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art for the first time in a generation.
Nelson Atkins Museum. |
Dean Yoder, in charge of restoration
at the Cleveland Museum of Art,
works to clean dirt
from a Monet painting. |
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PELLEAS ET MELISANDE by Claude Debussy
Through June 24
Debussy’s beautiful opera is at once intensely lyrical and erotic. A prince marries a mysterious young woman he finds in the forest, but she falls in love with his brother, Pelléas, with fatal consequences. Director David Alden makes his OTSL debut, OTSL music director Stephen Lord conducts, and the Salome duo of Maria Zifchak and Gregory Dahl returns for OTSL’s first-ever Pelléas. All operas sung in English and performed with members of the famed St. Louis Symphony.
Complete information - Opera Theater of Saint Louis. |
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COMING UP IN JULY!
THIRD ANNUAL CLASSIC FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
July 14-31 |
Cinema St. Louis, the presenter of the annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), celebrates the city’s Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy with its Third Annual Classic French Film Festival. This year, we’re delighted to collaborate with a new co-presenter, the Webster University Film Series. In its first two editions, the fest featured a mix of the new and the old, but in 2011 we’ve opted to feature classic works exclusively.
Complete information - Cinema St. Louis |
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THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER directed by Bertrand Tavernier
June 17 & June 23
In The Princess of Montpensier, acclaimed filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (ROUND MIDNIGHT) directs a spectacular cast in a riveting, lush romantic drama set in the high courts of 16th Century France.
Complete information - Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center
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"WHY GROW UP?" by Etienne Delessert
June 25 - September 4 |
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Etienne Delessert has illustrated more than 80 books, some translated in 14 languages, with millions of copies sold worldwide. Why Grow Up? features 100 artworks from over 20 books including his groundbreaking The Endless Party, created in the 1960s, along with his influential collaborations with Eugene Ionesco (Contes 1, 2, 3, 4) in French, and Jean Piaget (How The Mouse...), to his more recent award-winning A Long Long Song, Ashes Ashes, Dance!, The Seven Dwarfs, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Humpty Dumpty, Big and Bad, Full Color, Moon Theater, and Spartacus the Spider. Delessert’s illustrations have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Le Monde and The New York Times. His animated films include the adventures of the endearing Yok-Yok and creations for Sesame Street. |
He is the recipient of 13 gold and 12 silver medals from the American Society of Illustrators, as well as the 1996 Hamilton King Award, and recently was a finalist for the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
This exhibition was initiated in 2009 at Centre de l’illustration in Moulins, France, and travels in the U.S. through the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.
Complete information - Joslyn Art Museum. |
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LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT directed by Jacques Demy
June 11 |
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The best-known movie in which Catherine Deneuve stars with her older sister Françoise Dorléac (who died in a car crash shortly after finishing the film) is this candy-colored musical by the same director-composer team (Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand) that made The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. A tribute to Hollywood musicals, The Young Girls of Rochefort co-stars Gene Kelly and George Chakiris (West Side Story). Set in a small seaside town, the film tells of twin sisters who yearn for life and love in the big city, but find plenty of romance close to home.
Complete information - Cleveland Cinémathèque. |
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THE SOFT SKIN (LA PEAU DOUCE) directed by François Truffaut
With Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorléac
June 24-25
Truffaut’s little-known fourth feature (after The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, and Jules and Jim) was his first flop, and thus is ripe for rediscovery and reappraisal. It tells of a married, middle-aged publisher, lecturer, and father who mucks up his successful life by having an affair with a much younger airline stewardess (Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve’s sister). Truffaut’s treatment of this story is not light and frothy but dark and suspenseful—almost Hitchcockian. Cinematography by Raoul Coutard; music by Georges Delerue. Complete information - Cleveland Cinémathèque. |
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Wexner Center for the Arts Events |
L'AMOUR FOU directed by Pierre Thoretton
Exclusive Columbus engagement!
June 17 - June 23
The public life of Yves Saint Laurent was as extravagant as it was decadent. As a design prodigy and then the grand couturier of a fashion empire he influenced fifty years of style – but few are familiar with the private life of the legend. In Pierre Thoretton's L'Amour Fou, Pierre Bergé, the man with which YSL shared four decades of his life and love, reflects on the equally extravagant history of their personal relationship. |
Set against the 2009 auction of the priceless, elaborate art collection amassed by Saint Laurent and Bergé over several decades, this extraordinary documentary provides an unprecedented look at the life of a mythic personality, whose personal life matched his public for elegance, extravagance and passion. An award winner at the Toronto Film Festival, L'Amour Fou is an un-missable film event for documentary fans and fashion diehards alike.
Complete information - Wexner Center for the Arts
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DOUBLE SEXUS: HANDS BELLMER AND LOUISE BOURGEOIS
Through July 31 |
This two-gallery presentation marks the U.S. debut of a major exhibition from Berlin, Germany, that explores connections and contrasts between two influential and historically significant artists. Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), a famed sculptor who received the Wexner Prize in 1999, and Hans Bellmer (1902–1975), a German sculptor and photographer often associated with surrealism, are both noted for their investigations of sexuality, desire, gender, and the body. Featuring sculpture, photography, and works on paper, the show examines their expressive approaches to these provocative topics.
Organized by the Nationalgalerie, Berlin, in cooperation with the Wexner Center.
Please note: This exhibition is recommended for mature audiences.
Complete information - Wexner Center for the Arts |
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MONDO BELMODO
July 1-29 |
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One of European cinema's brightest stars for over five decades now, Jean-Paul Belmondo is equal parts tender romantic and cynical tough-guy; in essence, he is France's answer to Humphrey Bogart. Belmondo's career has brought him from collaborations with the founders of the French nouvelle vague like Godard and Truffaut and Melville to leading man status in lavish international productions directed by pop artists like Philippe de Broca and Henri Verneuil. This five-week series puts equal emphasis on Belmondo's landmark New Wave works and his popular entertainments.
Complete information - Madison Cinematheque |
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ELEANOR'S SECRET (KERITY, LA MASION DES CONTES) directed by Dominique Monféry
July 2, 4 & 7 p.m.
English version at 4 p.m. and subtitled at 7 p.m. |
This imaginative animated film from veteran Disney animator and Oscar nominee Monféry will charm audiences of all ages. Just learning to read, seven year-old Nat inherits a collection of classic children's literature from his Aunt Eleanor (voiced by Jeanne Moreau). He soon finds out that these are no ordinary books when the characters within their pages—like Alice in Wonderland and Captain Hook—magically spring to life! Shrunk by a wicked witch, Nat joins his storybook friends to save them, and their magical worlds, from being destroyed.
Compelte information - Madison Cinematheque. |
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THE RED BALLOON (LE BALLOON ROUGE) directed by Albert Lamorisse
With Pascal Lamorisse
Followed immediately by Little Fugitive |
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In Albert Lamorisse's bittersweet The Red Balloon, a lonely youngster (played by the son of the director) finds his ideal playmate in a frisky and lively inflated toy. In Little Fugitive, seven-year-old Joey (Richie Andrusco), tricked into thinking he's hurt his older brother, flees to Coney Island for a day's worth of adventures. These two cinematic essentials for audiences of all ages each showcase a number of authentic locations in Paris and NYC.
Complete information - Madison Cinemathèque. |
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