'A home for the language': welcome to France's museum of French
France is launching a six-month festival to celebrate the French language on Wednesday, the international day for Francophonie. It will culminate in a summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron in October at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts. Since last November, the Renaissance castle has become the official home to the International French Language Centre.
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France is launching a Francophonie Festival on Wednesday which will last more than six months, with the slogan: "create, innovate, undertake in French".
The French presidency says it wants to take advantage of this period to "celebrate Francophonie as a force for world transformation", a source of "solutions for the world in the face of global challenges", and "embodied" by "inspiring figures".
Around a hundred projects and events have been planned in partnership with 40 countries and more than 400 structures in France and internationally.
On 4 October, Macron will welcome nearly a hundred heads of state and government for the 19th Francophonie summit at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts.
Extensive renovations
The former royal palace is now home to the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, a museum celebrating the history and future of the French language. It was inaugurated on 30 October by the French Macron and opened to the public on 1 November.
Located 50 kilometres north of Paris, the Château de Villers-Cotterêts opened its doors after four years of work overseen by the national heritage body, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN).
The palace had fallen into ruin until 2018, when the decision was taken to restore it and turn it into the International French Language Centre.
The choice of the castle is a symbolic one: it is where King Francis I of France signed the Ordinance of of Villers-Cotterêts on 10 October 1539 that made French the country's official language.
The decree is the oldest piece of French legislation still partly used by courts. It made it compulsory for official documents to be written in French.
A printed copy of the ordinance, usually housed in France's National Archives, will be displayed in the new museum's first exhibition.
'Deterioration in the language'
Today French is spoken by 321 million people around the world – but according to Paul Rondin, director of the new museum, "we are witnessing a real deterioration in the language".
"We've let ourselves be devoured by a globish that isn't English [...] The language has been transformed into an accumulation of signs, leaving little room for complexity and diversity, accelerated by digital technology where it's not even quite globish but pieces of globish or of what used to be French," he says.
"Our project is to provide a home for the French language: not to protect it, but to reflect on it, to listen to it, to value it, to be attentive to all its transformations," Rondin explains.
The opening exhibition, "L'aventure du français" ('The adventure of French"), explored the cultural, historical and social aspects of French, as well as its relationship with other languages.
Teaching and cultural centre
Alongside exhibitions, the new centre will offer opportunities for students to learn French.
It is also intended to be a hub for arts and culture, notably with the Jeu de Paume, a 250-seat auditorium that will host concerts, shows, conferences and more.
"Artists will be welcome at the Cité, whatever their discipline, gender or origin," says Rondin.
The next exhibition, due to open in May 2024, will focus on French-language songs that have become beloved hits around the world, from La Vie en Rose by Édith Piaf to the more recent Pookie by Aya Nakamura.
The International organisation of Francophonie (OIF) has 54 member countries, seven associate members and 27 observers.
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