Indo-French Relations > Cultural Exchanges

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Mainstream culture enjoys a wide and discerning audience among the French population, as is evident in the numerous cultural events organised all over France, spanning the entire diversity of the Indian art, music, dance and literature. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations sponsors a number of Indian practitioners of dance, music and arts to France, while a significant number of Indian artists also visit France at the initiative of the various local cultural associations and impresarios in France, outside the purview of the official exchanges.

Popular Indian cinema made new inroads into France through the Indian participation at the 54th Cannes International Film Festival in May 2001, which has been followed up with similarly active participation levels in subsequent years. The apex French public body in charge of literature made India the 'country of honour' for its annual literary festival 'Les Belles Etrangeres' in November 2002, and in a special tribute to the richness and diversity of Indian literature, invited as many as 20 Indian authors to travel throughout the territory of France for a series of lectures, panel discussions and book readings. The Parisian suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt had organised a prominent festival on contemporary Indian in 2002, showcasing the richness of Indian music, dance, cinema, art and fashion. Future years are expected to see a continuation of these widely appreciated Indian artistic expositions, and exhibitions of Rabindranath Tagore's works, and of Gupta art antiquities are just two of the events being eagerly awaited in cultural circles in France. Similarly, important events to highlight French culture have also been organised in India, such as the first ever Picasso exhibition, held during December2001-January 2002.

The two countries take active steps to sustain this high level of interest, and the Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme provides the overall umbrella for the organisation of a variety of cultural programmes. The 14th Indo-French Joint Committee Meeting on Cooperation in Culture, Education and Science was held in Paris on 6-7 November 2003, during which the bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) for the period 2004-2006 was signed.