Cultures of the world
© DR
For a week Paris will beat to the rhythms of foreign cultures. Forty-six cultural institutes will give visitors the chance to cross cultural lines and travel around the world with exhibitions, concerts, shows and debates.

[ Practical ]

- Centre Culturel Algérien
171 rue de la Croix-Nivert - 75015 Paris
Tel : 0145549531
www.cca-paris.com
- Goethe-Institut
17 avenue d'Iéna 75116 PARIS
Tel : 0144439230
www.goethe.de/fr/par
- Centre de Recherche sur la Diaspora Arménienne
9 rue Cadet - 75009 Paris
Tel : 0142460558
www.crda-france.org
- Forum Culturel Autrichien
17 avenue de Villars - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0147052710
www.fca-fr.com/index.jsp
- Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles à Paris
127 rue Saint-Martin 75004 PARIS
Tel : 0153019696
www.cwb.fr
- Centre Culturel Bulgare
28 rue de la Boétie 75008 - Paris
Tel : 0143592052
www.ccbulgarie.com
- Centre Culturel Canadien
5 rue de Constantine 75007 - Paris
Tel : 0144432190
www.canada-culture.org
- Institut Ramon Llull
3, rue de la Boétie - 75008 Paris
Tel : 014 660245
www.llull.cat
- Centre Culturel de la Chine
1 boulevard de la Tour Maubourg - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0153595920
www.cccparis.org
- Centre Culturel Coréen
2 avenue d'Iéna 75016 - Paris
Tel : 0147208415
www.coree-culture.org
- Maison du Danemark
142 avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008 - Paris
Tel : 0144312121
www.maisondudanemark.dk
- Centre Culturel d’Egypte
111 bd Saint-Michel - 75005 Paris
Tel : 0146337567
www.culture-egypte.com
- Instituto Cervantes de Paris
7 rue Quentin Bauchart - 75008 Paris
Tel : 0140709 92
http://paris.cervantes.es
- Institut Finlandais
60 rue des Ecoles - 75005 Paris
Tel : 0140518909
www.institut-finlandais.asso.fr
- Institut Hongrois
92 rue Bonaparte 75006 - Paris
Tel : 0143260644
www.instituthongrois.fr
- Centre India
La route des Indes, 7 rue d'Argenteuil 75001 PARIS
Tel : 0145427213
- Centre Culturel d’Iran
6 rue Jean Bart - 75006 Paris
Tel : 0145491920
http://paris.icro.ir
- Centre Culturel Irlandais
5 rue des Irlandais - 75005 Paris
Tel : 0158521030
www.centreculturelirlandais.com
- Istituto Italiano di Cultura
50 rue de Varenne - 75007 Paris - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0144394939
www.iicparigi.esteri.it
- Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris
101 bis quai Branly - 75015 Paris
Tel : 0144379 00 / 01
www.mcjp.asso.fr
- Institut Kurde de Paris
106 rue Lafayette - 75010 Paris
Tel : 0148246 64
www.institutkurde.org
- Mission Culturelle du Luxembourg
28 rue Cambacérès – 75008 Paris
Tel : 0147429182
- Instituto de Mexico à Paris
119 rue Vieille-du-Temple - 75003 Paris
Tel : 0144618444
www.mexiqueculture.org
- Institut Néerlandais
121 rue de Lille - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0153591240
www.institutneerlandais.com
- Institut Polonais
31 rue Jean Goujon - 75008 Paris
Tel : 0153939010
www.institut.pologne.net
- Instituto Camoes à Paris
26 rue Raffet - 75016 Paris
Tel : 0153920100
www.instituto-camoes.pt
- Institut Culturel Roumain
1 rue de l'Exposition - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0147051531
www.institut-roumain.org
- British Council
9-11 rue de Constantine - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0149557300
www.britishcouncil.fr
- Centre de Russie pour la Science et la Culture (CRSC)
61 rue de Boissière - 75116 Paris
Tel : 0144347979
www.russiefrance.org
- Centre Culturel de Serbie
123 rue Saint-Martin - 75004 Paris
Tel : 0142725050
www.ccserbie.com
- Institut Slovaque de Paris
14 avenue d’Eylau - 75016 Paris
Tel : 0144145600
www.siparis.mfa.sk
- Centre Culturel Suédois
11 rue Payenne - 75003 Paris
Tel : 0144788020
www.ccs.si.se
- Centre Culturel Suisse
32-38 rue des Francs-Bourgeois - 75003 Paris
Tel : 0142714450
www.ccsparis.com
- Centre Culturel Arabe Syrien
12 avenue de Tourville - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0147053011
www.centreculturelsyrien.fr
- Centre Culturel de Taïwan
78 rue de l'Université - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0144398866
www.ccacctp.org
- Centre Tchèque
18 rue Bonaparte - 75006 Paris
Tel : 0153730022 / 0153730025
www.czechcentres.cz/paris
- Centre Culturel Anatolie
77 rue Lafayette - 75009 Paris
Tel : 0142800474
www.cca-anatolie.com
- Centre Culturel du Yémen
25 rue Georges Bizet - 75016 Paris
Tel : 0153238784
www.ambyemenfrance.org
- Ambassade de Grèce
17 rue Auguste-Vacquerie - 75116 PARIS
Tel : 0147237228
www.amb-grece.fr
- Centre culturel de la Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris
17 Boulevard Jourdan - 75014 Paris
Tel : 0144166438
www.ciup.fr/culture.htm
- Institut du Monde Arabe
1 rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard - 75005 Paris
Tel : 0140513838
www.imarabe.org
- Maison de l’Amérique Latine
217 boulevard Saint-Germain - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0149547500
www.mal217.org
- Maison d’Europe et d’Orient
3 passage Hennel - 75012 Paris
Tel : 0140240055
www.sildav.org
Délégation Générale du Québec
66 rue Pergolèse – 75116 Paris
Tel : 0140678545
www.quebec.fr
- Union Latine
131 rue du Bac - 75007 Paris
Tel : 0145496060
www.unilat.org
- FICEP
50 rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris
Tel : 0142847434
www.ficep.net
As every year the month of September will be the moment for the Week of Foreign Cultures. Organised by the FICEP (Forum des Instituts Culturels Etrangers à Paris), it gives the opportunity to discover the 46 cultural institutes established in Paris where more than 400 hundred expats work to promote their country’s culture and artists.


© Guadalupe Parrondo
 More than 80 events
This 8th edition will take place from September 26th to October 4th and will have as its theme “Sublimons les Frontières” (Crossing cultural lines). A way to travel around the world without leaving one’s home town, in one’s mind, when attending a concert, watching a movie or reading a book…. In total more than 80 events are on the agenda and all are listed on the FICEP website. Here are some examples.
The Centre Wallonie Bruxelles will celebrate its 30th anniversary on this occasion with various concerts and a one-man show by humorist Zidani.
The Canadian Cultural Centre will screen films related to the three oceans that border the country : the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Highlighting the beautiful landscapes of these coastal regions, the three films focus on the people living there and their cultures. The Chinese Cultural Centre will have on display some of the greatest contemporary Chinese works of art including oil paintings, sculptures, engravings and traditional style paintings.


© DR
 Concerts, films and exhibitions
Bania, a band performing traditional gnaw music, will give a concert at the Algerian Cultural Centre. The Korean Cultural Centre will show two films addressing issues concerning the partition of the Korean peninsula in two countries and relationships between people having different political opinions. The Luxembourg Cultural Mission will present a documentary film depicting the people of all nationalities stopping at the service area of Berchem located on a motorway, the busiest petrol station in Europe.
Worldwide known pianist Guadalupe Parrondo will give a recital at the Mexican Cultural Institute. The Dutch Institute will organize a debate about books dealing with European Union’s new Eastern borders. The Polish Institute will present an Anglo-Polish animated movie telling the story of a young boy who ventures into a forest where he is not allowed to go. The Russian Centre for Science and Culture will exhibit paintings by seven contemporary artists with different styles.


© DR
 The Fall of the Wall
The Taiwanese Cultural Centre will organize several cultural events - exhibitions focusing on new medias, traditional shadow theatre, classic and contemporary concerts - throughout Paris to show the diversity of the contemporary Taiwanese artistic creation. The Maison d’Europe et d’Orient will host debates and conferences about Oriental artistic trends as well as a photographic exhibition on the Georgian desert, a natural border with Azerbaijan.
As to Germany and several countries from Eastern Europe, they have decided to organize events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Goethe Institute will present a film depicting the last moments of the Wall and will host an exhibition of photographs and videos shot between May 1989 and October 1990. The Hungarian Institute will have on display works by 21 young Hungarian artists expressing their vision of the last twenty years. The Czech Centre will host an exhibition of Czech artists who emigrated, lived and worked in United States during the Communist era and will present a play based on Vaclav Havel’s work.


© Wu Yi-Hua
 Initiation to foreign languages
All along the week, most of the institutes will also give the possibility to get free initiation to more than 50 foreign languages. The opportunity to learn the rudiments of Chinese calligraphy at the Taiwanese Cultural Centre, English at the British Council or literal Arabic at the Institute of the Arabic World. But it will be also possible to discover more uncommon idioms. Azeri, Lithuanian, Bosnian, Albanian and Georgian will be taught at the Maison d’Europe et d’Orient.
Moreover several institutes will offer specific activities for children : fairytales and legends performed or read both in French and in the original language, workshops, screening of comic movies and short animated films. Lastly, young and old alike will be able to participate in a competition requesting to answer correctly to three questions. The participating form is downloadable on the FICEP website and answers can be found in the week program or in the Cultural Centres. The winner will be awarded a weekend for two in Stockholm.

September 07, 2009
 Thierry Joly