New Director At Alliance Française De Pondichérry

Alliance française de Pondichéry (AFP), one of the oldest in the world and the first Alliance française of Asia bid adieu to its charismatic director Fabrice Mongiat in August. Olivier Litvine, who was the director of Alliance française de Dhaka (AFD), has now taken over the directorship of AFP.

As the new director, Litvine’s first project will be a photo exhibition titled ‘War and colonies (1914-1918)’. The photo exhibition was organised at AFD by Litvine earlier this year commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Litvine is planning to bring this exhibition to the “French town” of India on November 11^th, Armistice Day. Armistice Day is celebrated as a global commemoration of the day the pact was signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne in France to put an end to World War I.

Speaking to Centenary News, Litvine said, “The photographic exhibition is ‘no Spielberg exhibition’ just the faces and postures of real men fighting a dirty war.”

The exhibition features a rich collection of photographs from the battlefields of World War I including 35 rare photographs of colonial troops in the Great War. Many cities in India are currently hosting this exhibition and it is an incredible opportunity to have it come to Puducherry on Armistice Day. Around 6.5 lakh colonial troops fought in the World War I including an estimated 1.5 lakh Indians.

Apart from the photo exhibition, the new director is also planning ‘Encounters’, an annual Indo-French festival where artists and writers from France as well as India who were influenced by the French culture will have a common platform to showcase their talents. Musicians from Réunion Island are also expected to participate in this festival. Litvine also plans to encourage a collaboration of French designers and local talents to bring in a taste of French Fashion to Pondicherry.