We Recommend
The Portrait by Antoine Laurain
Fri 25 Aug - Mon 25 Sep
Gallic Books
Pierre-François Chaumont is an avid collector of antiques who discovers an eighteenth century portrait of a man which could be his own portrait. Although his friends and his wife see no likeness, he goes on an unexpected trip to unveil the mystery...
Books
Three Days and a Life by Pierre Lemaître
Fri 25 Aug - Mon 25 Sep
Maclehose Press
Three days at the edge of the new millennium, one moment of madness and one young life's course altered forever. A dazzling new thriller from the master of noir.
Books
Now Let’s Dance by Karine Lambert
Fri 25 Aug - Mon 25 Sep
Orion Publishing
You are never too old to find happiness! When her rich husband dies, Marguerite realises her life has gone by without her noticing. Marcel gets lost when his beloved wife passes away. But when these two different worlds meet, they go on a new brand life!
Books
Daddy Long Legs by Aurélie Guillerey
Thu 7 Sep - Tue 7 Nov
Pan Macmillan
The car had trouble starting this morning. It gets Matty to nursery, but what if later it won't start at all... how will Dad pick him up? But Dad comes up with a series of increasingly imaginative suggestions for alternative modes of transport.
Books
Dali by Edmond Baudoin
Thu 7 Sep - Tue 7 Nov
SelfMadeHero
Was he a madman, a genius or a lover? Was he impotent, paranoid or simply shy? The surrealist painter Salvador Dalí is known for his acts of public bravado as well as his extraordinary work. Edmond Baudoin offers his depiction of the man behind the artist.
Books
Exhibition – Victor Cord’homme
Thu 7 Sep - Tue 3 Oct
Librairie Caravansérail
On the occasion of visual artist Victor Cord'homme's new exhibition « La Traversée », the artist and Librairie Caravansérail will present you his body of work exploring worlds of diversity through painting, drawing and sculpture.
Talks, Visual Arts
Artificial Sensibility
Sat 9 Sep - Fri 27 Oct
Bonington Gallery
Aiming to position itself as a leading exponent of innovative exhibition practice in Nottingham, Bonington gallery present a reflexive exhibition project around Artificial Intelligence, when machines mimic human cognitive functions.
Visual Arts
French Design Trail
Sun 17 - Mon 25 Sep
Various venues in London
French designers are known around the world for their talent, their sophistication and above all for their creativity. This year, 15 French showrooms are offering an exclusive opportunity to explore the inspiration and creative genius brought to London.
Visual Arts
Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burell
Wed 20 Sep - Mon 7 May
The National Gallery
The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see stunning paintings, pastels, and drawings by leading French Impressionist Edgar Degas: a unique insight into the practices and preoccupations of a complex and intensely private artist.
Visual Arts
Connaught Brown in Mayfair
Wed 20 Sep - Sat 21 Oct
Connaught Brown Gallery
Connaught Brown Mayfair presents the first UK solo exhibition for pioneering French abstract artist Geneviève Claisse. Following in the footsteps of Mondrian and Malevich, Claisse is a driving force of geometric abstraction and has exhibited internationally since the 1950s. Preview 19 September (6 – 8pm)
Visual Arts
Solo Exhibition: Mimosa Echard
Thu 21 Sep - Sun 5 Nov
Cell Project Space
Cell Project Space presents the first UK solo exhibition by Paris-based artist Mimosa Echard, which stems across the artist’s personal history to the experiences and contradictory sensations of modern life.
Visual Arts
Nash Ensemble: The French Connection
Sun 24 Sep - Sat 9 Dec
Wigmore Hall
This series juxtaposes music from Stravinsky's French period with music by a variety of composers from the French tradition – including Saint-Saëns and Fauré, the great Impressionists Debussy and Ravel, and composers from the generation that emerged after WWI.
Classical Music
Papooz
Mon 25 Sep
Moth Club
Based around the duo of Ulysse Cottin and Armand Penicaut, Papooz pair jangly guitars with brisk, danceable rhythms and an uncanny knack for memorable hooks. This year UK audiences have been catching on to the catchy likes of 'Anne Wants To Dance'.
Contemporary Music
Jane Birkin
Tue 26 Sep
Barbican Centre
Birkin is still finding ways of bringing new life to Serge Gainsbourg's classic songs. Latest album Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique, features lush symphonic interpretations, which for this London date she'll be performing with the Heritage Orchestra.
Contemporary Music
The King of Fools by Frédéric Dard
Wed 27 Sep - Fri 27 Oct
Pushkin Vertigo
Jean-Marie can’t believe his luck when he has a passionate triste with a beautiful young Englishwoman, Marjory, who is holidaying in the Côte d’Azur. But he discovers his lover is married and the encounter with the jealous husband provokes a terrible drama...
Books
Van Kuijk Quartet
Fri 29 Sep
Stratford on Avon Music Festival
Winners of the Wigmore Hall’s prestigious string quartet competition in 2015, the young French ensemble Quatuor Van Kuijk are currently BBC New Generation Artists. They will perform Mendelssohn's String Quartet Op.44 n°2 and Ravel's String Quartet in F major.
Classical Music
Bloomberg New Contemporaries
Fri 29 Sep - Sat 3 Mar
New Contemporaries
French artist Maïa Régis will showcase five pieces at Bloomberg New Contemporaries, the annual touring exhibition offering a compelling snapshot of new work being made by some of the most interesting artists emerging from UK fine art courses.
Visual Arts
Lucy & Jorge Orta, Pauline Curnier Jardin at FRIEZE Projects
Fri 29 Sep - Mon 9 Oct
FRIEZE Projects
Do not miss the celebrated non-profit programme curated by Raphael Gygax, including series of new film commissions premiered at Frieze London and broadcast on national television.
Visual Arts
Katinka Bock
Sat 30 Sep - Sun 22 Oct
Siobhan Davies Studios
As part of The Traces Commissions at Siobhan Davies Studios, Paris-based artist Katinka Bock’s new work aims to experiment with a new method for creating meaningful encounters between visual artists and the dance practices.
Performing Arts, Visual Arts
Palmyra by Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas
Tue 3 - Wed 4 Oct
Home
Following the success of Eurohouse, Bert & Nasi return with Palmyra, an exploration of revenge, the politics of destruction and what we consider to be barbarian. Palmyra invites people to step back from the news, looking at what lies beneath.
Performing Arts
Medea (Written in Rage)
Thu 5 - Sat 7 Oct
The Place
This autumn, UK audiences will have the opportunity to witness the English language premiere of Jean René Lemoine’s startling contemporary re-imagining of the classic legend of passion and revenge, Medea, translated and directed by Neil Bartlett.
Performing Arts
Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov play Mozart
Sat 7 - Sun 8 Oct
Wigmore Hall
Violinist Isabelle Faust launches her Wigmore Hall residency in company with her close artistic collaborator, Alexander Melnikov, offering a weekend of 3 concerts devoted to Mozart’s violin sonatas.
Classical Music
Dali/Duchamp
Sat 7 Oct - Wed 3 Jan
Royal Academy of Arts
Take another look at two artistic giants: father of conceptual art Marcel Duchamp, and larger-than-life Surrealist Salvador Dalí. This is the first exhibition to throw light on their surprising relationship and its influence on the work of both artists.
Visual Arts
Origami by Satchie Noro & Silvain Ohl
Wed 11 - Sun 15 Oct
Various venues in London
Origami sees the unlikely pairing of a monumental shipping container and a gravity-defying dancer. The performance is a breath-holding spectacle where the container gently unfurls, creating a geometric performance space.
Performing Arts
Tate Modern Film: Neïl Beloufa Occidental
Wed 11 Oct
Tate Modern
Tate film launches a new cinema programme for 2017, bringing together experimental films, documentaries, live cinema and artists’ talks. Do not miss the screening of French-Algerian artist Neïl Beloufa's comic arthouse thriller, Occidental!
Films & TV, Visual Arts
Tordre by Rachid Ouramdane
Fri 13 - Sat 14 Oct
Belfast International Arts Festival
Rachid Ouramdane is at the forefront of dance innovation with this haunting duet where two dancers perform lonely, intensely physical solos. Through hypnotic, whirling gestures, each woman’s body paints a raw, captivating self-portrait.
Performing Arts
Lakes International Comic Art Festival
Fri 13 - Sun 15 Oct
Kendal
Come and discover all about comics during this festival in the town of Kendal! Among many fabulous events, this festival will feature French guests such as Frédéric Maupomé,Dawid and Pascal Mériaux.
Talks
Fakear
Fri 13 Oct
Koko
With Petit Biscuit and Superpoze, Théo Le Vigoureux aka Fakear has been snapped up by UK label Ninja Tune and is one of the figureheads of a richly melodic new French electronic sound. This Friday evening show should make for a perfect start to the weekend.
Contemporary Music
Ensemble intercontemporain, Matthias Pintscher
Sat 14 Oct
Southbank Centre
Ensemble intercontemporain presents mesmerising music by Pierre Boulez, Jonathan Harvey and Philippe Schoeller conducted by Matthias Pintscher, as part of Southbank Centre’s festival Belief and Beyond Belief and supported by the Franco-British fund for Contemporary Music, Diaphonique
Classical Music
Tordre by Rachid Ouramdane
Tue 17 Oct
ARTSDEPOT
After an epic opening of determinedly false starts a series of impassioned solos follows, but nothing is quite what it seems. Solid sculptures start to move, gentle spinning becomes a dangerous compulsion, and calm is interrupted.
Performing Arts
Trois Grandes Fugues by Lyon Opera Ballet
Thu 19 - Fri 20 Oct
Sadler's Wells
Three acclaimed choreographers create three inimitable dance works to the same piece of music, Beethoven’s Grande Fugue op. 133. Trois Grandes Fugues is a chance to see three personal and sophisticated responses to Beethoven’s impassioned score.
Performing Arts
He Who Falls by Yoann Bourgeois
Thu 19 - Fri 20 Oct
Belfast International Arts Festival
This thrilling circus-influenced physical theatre piece features performers on a dramatic tilting stage, appearing to defy the laws of gravity.When the imposing, suspended podium begins to spin, the only way to withstand its forces is through agile movement.
Performing Arts
Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys
Thu 19 Oct - Sun 21 Jan
The Courtauld Gallery
Chaïm Soutine was one of the leading painters in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s and was seen by many as the heir to Vincent van Gogh. This major exhibition is the first time he has been exhibited in the United Kingdom in 35 years.
Visual Arts
Van Kuijk Quartet in Loughborough
Sat 21 Oct
Loughborough Town Hall
BBC New Generation artists Van Kuijk Quartet is one of today’s most promising quartets. The quatuor released its debut album Mozart (Alpha Classics) to critical acclaim last year and has since been regularly touring the UK.
Classical Music
Edith Canat de Chizy & The Van Kuijk Quartet
Mon 23 Oct
Town Hall Birmingham
The ECHO Rising Stars series spotlights the French string quartet Quatuor van Kuijk, in music by Haydn, Janáček, Ravel and the world premiere of French contemporary composer Edith Canat de Chizy's New Work.
Classical Music
Suzy Storck
Thu 26 Oct - Sat 18 Nov
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre presents the UK debut of stage director Jean-Pierre Baro, one of the most exciting new voices in French theatre, and the UK première of Magali Mougel's haunting play, Suzy Storck .
Performing Arts
Quentin Euverte & Florimond Dupont
Thu 26 Oct - Sun 5 Nov
Cryptic
Buzz Aldrin Syndrome is Quentin Euverte & Florimond Dupont's new multimedia sculpture installation somewhere between a clandestine movie theatre, a bootleg video-club, a shady sound studio and a gold panning camp from Guyana. Featured as part of Sonica 2017, Cryptic's biennial festival of the best in visual sonic art from around the world in Glasgow.
Visual Arts
Cézanne Portraits
Thu 26 Oct - Sun 11 Feb
National Portrait Gallery
The major new exhibition, Cézanne Portraits, will bring together for the first time over fifty of Cézanne’s portraits from collections across the world, including works which have never been on public display in the UK. #CézannePortraits Credit: Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair, by Paul Cézanne 1877. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Robert Treat Paine, 2nd.
Visual Arts
Camille
Mon 30 Oct
Barbican Centre
One of the most unique, unclassifiable figures in French music has returned this year with a new album (OUÏ) and a new label (Because). OUÏ might be her most streamlined work to date, but still features by turns whimsical and electrifying performances.
Contemporary Music
The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London
Thu 2 Nov - Mon 7 May
Tate Britain
Impressionists in London, French artists in exile (1870–1904) is the first exhibition to map the connections between French and British artists, patrons and art dealers during a traumatic period in French history.
Visual Arts
Amadou & Mariam
Sat 4 Nov
The Troxy
The Grammy Award-nominated duo from Mali return with a brand new album, La Confusion. Their eighth long-player sees them unleashing some of their funkiest and most danceable music date, like brilliant lead single Bofou Safou. Live they're not to be missed.
Contemporary Music
Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains
Tue 7 Nov
The Garage
Signed to iconic UK label Domino, Frànçois and The Atlas Mountains have endeared themselves to discerning UK audiences with infectious, African-tinged indie-pop that has taken a rockier turn on their most recent album Solide Mirage.
Contemporary Music
Pascal Gallois at the Sound Festival
Thu 9 Nov
Sound Festival
Pascal Gallois, worldly renowned as one of the best bassoon players is invited to the Sound festival in Aberdeen. For this season dedicated to bassoon, come and listen to the world premiere of Philippe Hersant's Eight Pieces for Bassoon and Instrumental Ensemble.
Classical Music
EFG London Jazz Festival
Fri 10 - Sun 19 Nov
Various venues in London
The capital’s biggest music festival is celebrating its 25th year and as ever features a great spread of French talent including Henri Texier, Airelle Besson & Vincent Segal, Leila Martial, Laura Perrudin, Ben L’Oncle Soul, The Gipsy Kings & Chico and more.
Contemporary Music
Creation sans frontière: Franco-Scottish Musical Twinning
Sat 11 Nov
Sound Festival
Stéphane Magnin's work will be performed for the first time at the Aberdeen's Sound Festival. Result of a French-Scottish collaboration, this work promises to be interestingly unusual mixing voices, percussion, bassoon and strings.
Classical Music
Le Monde d’Hier
Mon 13 - Wed 15 Nov
Print Room at the Coronet
Laurent Seksik adapts Stefan Zweig’s masterful autobiography, the story which inspired Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. Both a swan song and a message of hope, this is a piece of unbelievable poetry and power.
Performing Arts
Perturbator
Thu 16 Nov
Student Central
Producer James Kent has built up a cult following with his brooding but potent electronics, inspired by an immersion in gaming and the evocative film music of John Carpenter. Following an appearance at The Great Escape in May, he's back for a short UK tour.
Contemporary Music
HUNTED
Thu 16 - Fri 17 Nov
Sadler's Wells
In HUNTED, up and coming French choreographer Maud Le Pladec collaborated with New York writer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili. Performed in London by Dorothée Munyaneza, this powerful solo uses storytelling and ritual to evoke the witch in every woman.
Performing Arts
Blick Bassy
Fri 17 Nov
Union Chapel
Blick's last album Akö saw him maintaining a connection with his Cameroonian roots and delivering the most intimate music of his career. Playing more traditional 'world' events and indie rock festivals, he's proved to be a consummate musician and showman.
Contemporary Music
Meeting Lou Reed
Fri 17 Nov
Bates Mill
Meeting Lou Reed is the project created by the French contemporary ensemble 2e2m and the German Zeitkratzer. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival dares to confront those two ensembles with affirmed, radical aesthetics for a novel performance.
Classical Music