French Spring Festival: Yogyakarta, Central Java

The organization of the two-month Printemps Francais (French Spring) festival, to be held over May and June, is currently underway here under the guidance of the CCF Yogyakarta French cultural center. Held poolside at the Novotel Yogyakarta, the opening of the festival was marked Wednesday with a fashion show by noted designer Ramadhani A Kadir. The event also marked the opening of a fashion photography exhibition presenting the works of French photographer Wilfrid Rouff.

“CCF Yogyakarta is very proud to have the honor of being the first to exhibit the fashion photos here in Indonesia,” said Marie Le Sourd, director of CCF Yogyakarta, in her opening remarks.

Forty-five photographs depicting the latest developments in French contemporary fashion are on exhibition in the hotel’s lobby from May 3 to May 15. The photos will then move on to Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta for parallel exhibitions.

“This is the first program to open in Indonesia for the start of the Printemps Francais 2007 festival, which is a festival of French contemporary arts and culture,” Le Sourd said.

The event forms part of a larger celebration entitled Printemps Francais in Asia, which is being organized in a number of Asian countries by respective French cultural centers throughout the region.

“The first Printemps Francais was held 15 years ago in Hong Kong. Now we have it held in many other Asian countries including China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Singapore and of course Indonesia,” she said.

Although the festival’s name varies from country to country, the central theme of the annual event remains the same: To present French art and culture to Asian audiences.

“Through the festival, we basically want to democratize art and culture. And we do so by collaborating with local artists and institutions,” Le Sourd said.

This year’s is the third Printemps Francais festival to be held in Yogyakarta. Apart from the fashion show and the photo exhibition, a number of complementary programs have also been prepared for the event.

These will include a French contemporary shadow-puppet show, titled C’koi centre etoile?, performed by Compagnie Ckoi ce cirk? on May 26 and May 27 at CCF Yogyakarta’s auditorium and also in villages in Bantul, many of which were badly damaged by the devastating May 27, 2006, earthquake.

Other items on the program include an electronic music performance by French DJ Missill on June 11, a contemporary circus performance by Compagnie 9.81 on June 17, a scientific exhibition addressing water from May 10 to May 20, a discussion of water on May 11 and a mass cleaning of Yogyakarta’s rivers on May 13.

“We will also have a music party on June 21 here at CCF to participate from a distance in the same event we have every year on the same date in France, during which all kinds of music, ranging from classical to contemporary, is played all across the country,” Le Sourd said.

She said that in order to create a nuance that resembles the vibrancy of the annual music party in France, CCF Yogyakarta also plans to hold music performances in several locations near to CCF Yogyakarta’s office in Sagan on June 23.

“We deliberately chose June 23, which is a Saturday, instead of June 21 … to allow more people to come and enjoy the music,” Le Sourd said, adding that various music genres, including classical, jazz and others, would be played during the event.

Sri Wahyuni