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| French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone, 11th from left, and Rwandan Ambassador to Korea Emma Isumbingabo, 10th from left, also chief of the Francophonie-promotion council in Seoul, pose with other ambassadors and VIPs at the opening ceremony of the Francophonie Festival at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Gangnam hotel, March 19. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
By Yi Whan-woo
Don't be mistaken that the Francophonie Festival is aimed only at promoting French language and culture worldwide.
The annual festival is also where you can witness French-speaking countries' respect for diversity, including other languages and cultures.
The festival celebrates International Francophonie Day on March 20. This is when the OIF, the French acronym for the Intergovernmental Organization of French-speaking nations, was founded in 1970.
On March 19, the opening ceremony at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Gangnam hotel was presented by Ariane Desgagnes-Leclerc from Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking province in eastern Canada.
Desgagnes-Leclerc, who made several TV appearances here, is fluent in French and Korean. She translated speeches of the VIPs, including French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone and Rwandan Ambassador to Korea Emma Isumbingabo, who is also chief of the Francophonie-promotion council in Seoul.
Laure Mafo, a Cameroonian-born French and pansori singer, stole the show at the end of the ceremony when she, after singing two folk songs in Korean, sang "Chunhyangga" in French.
Ambassador Penone gave special thanks to Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who posted a congratulatory online message for International Francophonie Day.
Ambassador Isumbingabo noted that Korea had made efforts to make the festival "rich and lively" after become an OIF's observer state in 2016.
In a video message, OIF Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo said French language helped speakers to overcoming geographical, ideological and religious barriers and let their countries maintain friendship.
The opening ceremony not only attracted ambassadors from French-speaking countries, such as Cote d'Ivoire, Lebanon, Morocco and Senegal, but also from Kenya, Mexico, Romania and Tanzania.
The festival runs through March 31, covering a wide range of areas, such as architecture, cinema, economics, education, gastronomy, literature, music, social science and humanities, sports, tourism and theater.
The programs include a film festival at the Seoul Museum of History (March 23-31), a conference on African architecture at Induk University (March 26), an evening debate at the Embassy of France in Seoul (March 27), an economics seminar at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) (March 28) and a culinary festival in Dajeon (March 30).
The OIF has 88 members — 61 regulars and 27 observers. Its mission is to embody active solidarity among member states. Together they represent more than one-third of U.N. member states.
French is an official language in 29 countries. The number of French speakers is 274 million, making it the world's second-most widely spoken language.
About 50,000 people are learning the French language.
The OIF has its head office in Paris as well as permanent representations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; in Brussels, Belgium; in New York and in Geneva.
