French pianist Pierre-Yves Plat who reinterprets classical masterpieces into jazz, ragtime, boogie, salsa and disco, will be the special guest of this year’s edition with several performances in Shkodra, Korça and Tirana
TIRANA, March 17 – Dozens of events will be staged in Albania’s main cities for ten days as part of Francophone Spring celebrations in Albania, an annual event celebrating French culture which revives cultural life each March.
Music, cinema, theatre, exhibitions, conferences, dances, poetry, gastronomy and even wine tasting are some of the events which will be held in Tirana, Shkodra, Korça, Fier, Elbasan, Durres, Vlora, Saranda, but also smaller towns such as Permet, Gramsh, Bajram Curri from March 18 to 28, says the French embassy in Albania, the organizer of the events.
The tight calendar of events opened on Wednesday, March 18 in Tirana with two poster exhibitions on “Speaking French” and “I love my planet.”
French pianist Pierre-Yves Plat who reinterprets classical masterpieces into jazz, ragtime, boogie, salsa and disco, will be the special guest of this year’s edition with several performances in Shkodra, Korça and Tirana.
French artist Kisito Assangni will be the curator “Time is love” exhibition at the Zeta gallery in Tirana where international artists will be featured with a series of video artworks.
The French Sophie Ding’s Jazz Trio will also give a concert in Tirana on Saturday, March 21.
The Romanian embassy in Tirana is also participating with an exhibition at the EU info centre in Tirana showcasing the “Miracles of Romanian heritage in the Middle Ages”
The Nikolet Vasia public gallery of Durres will also host an evening dedicated to the Francophonie with an exhibition and a fashion show of recycled clothes.
Several other events including poetry evenings, music and theatrical performances, and movies screenings are scheduled as part of the nationwide events.
Back in 2012, the programme of events marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the French Alliance in Tirana.
Organized by the French Embassy in Albania and the French Alliance in cooperation with Albanian state institutions, the Francophone Spring events are expected to revive cultural life in Albania, further promoting the French culture and arts in the country which numbers thousands of French speakers.
French is a widely taught in Albanian schools, several of which have also established bilingual Albanian-French sections.
Albania has been a full member of the International Organization of Francophonie since 2006. The International Organisation of La Francophonie represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. The French language and its humanist values represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation of La Francophonie is based.
The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 70 member states and governments (56 members and 14 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 870 million people, including 200 million French speakers.
