We Recommend
FOOD: Bigger than the Plate
Sat 18 May - Sun 20 Oct
V&A
From gastronomic experiments to urban farming, this exhibition brings together the politics and pleasure of food to ask how the collective choices we make can lead to a more sustainable, just and delicious food future.
Visual Arts
NOW 5
Sat 1 Jun - Sun 22 Sept
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The 5th instalment of this series creates temporary works that change over time as they are subjected to natural processes of transformation and decay, thus exploring themes of change and growth.
Visual Arts
Félix Vallotton
Sun 30 Jun - Sun 29 Sept
Royal Academy of Arts
Magnetic, provocative, daring: meet Félix Vallotton (1865–1925). The Royal Academy reveals the vision of a masterful painter and printmaker who captured the emotional undercurrents of Paris at the turn of the last century.
Visual Arts
The Archipelago of Another Life by Andrei Makine
Wed 10 Jul - Thu 10 Oct
Hachette
The novel follows the footsteps of Pavel Gartsev, a reservist during the Cold War. Sent into the wilderness of the Russian taiga, Pavel embarks on a challenging manhunt to find an escaped prisoner from a nearby gulag.
Books
Cézanne at the Whitworth
Sat 24 Aug - Sun 1 Mar
The Witworth
This exhibition celebrates an extraordinary collection of drawings and prints by Paul Cézanne that has been gifted and placed on long-term loan to the Whitworth by gallerist, collector, author and publisher Karsten Schubert.
Visual Arts
A Summer with Montaigne by Antoine Compagnon
Thu 5 Sept - Sat 5 Oct
Europa Editions
A few years ago, Antoine Compagnon was asked to host a radio broadcast, every day for an entire summer, on a formidable subject: Michel de Montaigne. From that experience came this engaging and entertaining book, A Summer with Montaigne.
Books
My Mother Laughs by Chantal Akerman
Wed 11 Sept - Fri 11 Oct
Silver Press
My Mother Laughs is both the distillation of the themes Akerman pursued throughout her creative life, and a version of the simplest and most complicated love story of all: that between a mother and a daughter.
Books
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019
Sat 14 Sept - Sun 23 Feb
Various Venues
Since 1949, BNC has consistently supported contemporary visual artists to successfully transition from education into professional practice, by means of an annual touring exhibition, featuring French artist Camille Yvert. Supported by Fluxus Art Projects.
Visual Arts
Please Do Not Sit – Marlène Huissoud
Sat 14 - Sun 22 Sept
London Design Festival
Award-winning experimental designer Marlène Huissoud is the first of 2–3 designers who will create habitats for the animal populations of Brompton – birds, bees and all life in between. Discover her work at the 2019 London Design Festival.
Visual Arts
London Design Festival 2019
Sat 14 - Sun 22 Sept
Various venues
Promoting London's creativity, this annual event draws on the UK's greatest thinkers and practitioners to deliver an unmissable celebration of design, with an inspirational line up of talks and workshops and commissions by leading international designers.
Visual Arts
Walala Lounge by Camille Walala
Sat 14 - Sun 22 Sept
South Molton Street
Camille Walala returns to the London Design Festival in a characteristically colourful manner. The French-born designer has been commissioned to enliven the heart of London’s West End with a bold and beautiful family of street furniture.
Visual Arts
Werther – Jules Massenet
Tue 17 Sept - Sat 5 Oct
Royal Opera House
Benoît Jacquot’s production of Massenet’s tragic opera explores the conflict between duty and our most passionate desires. Coming from the Opéra national de Paris, it is performed in London with brio at the Royal Opera House.
Classical Music
Lie with Me by Philippe Besson
Wed 18 Sept - Fri 18 Oct
Viking
Philippe, a famous writer, chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back to Philippe's teenage years, a winter morning in 1984, [...] and a carefully timed encounter between two seventeen-year-olds.
Books
Adorno: Crossovers
Thu 19 - Sun 22 Sept
Old Truman Brewery
A cross-cultural collectible design journey, the exhibition presents dynamic works by independent designers working in the intersection between design, art, and crafts, selected from 12 countries, including a French collection curated by François Leblanc.
Visual Arts
French Song Exchange Showcase
Wed 25 - Thu 26 Sept
Wigmore Hall
Join young singers from Wigmore Hall’s French Song Exchange (in partnership with the École Normale de Musique de Paris) for two showcase recitals, as they explore the wonderful traditions of the mélodie and delve into the music of Fauré.
Classical Music
Orléans International Piano Competition – Brin d’herbe
Thu 26 Sept
Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
For its 8th edition, the Orléans International Piano Competition proposes a contemporary music competition based on 3 pieces by British composer Christian Mason. Supported by Diaphonique, the junior piano competition ‘Brin d’herbe’ takes place every 2 years.
Classical Music
An Evening in Paris – Gabrielle Ducomble
Thu 26 Sept
The Pheasantry (Chelsea)
An Evening in Paris takes you on a musical journey to Paris in the company of the Belgian/French singer Gabrielle Ducomble and her band. Singing in English and French, she performs iconic songs of Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg, along with her own pieces.
Contemporary Music
International Translation Day 2019 – Translating Today
Mon 30 Sept
Free Word Centre
The largest coming-together for the UK translation community, explores what it means to be a translator working in this moment, and what it means to attempt to translate it.
Talks
One – Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas
Mon 30 Sept - Sat 19 Oct
Battersea Arts Center
Uniquely blending humour, brutality and clowning, acclaimed performers Bert and Nasi will have you on the edge of your seat as they attempt to overcome what divides them in this surreal show for our surreal times.
Performing Arts
PAD London
Mon 30 Sept - Sun 6 Oct
Berkeley Square
Inspiring a unique spirit of collecting, PAD epitomises how modern art, photography, design, decorative and tribal arts interact to reveal astonishing combinations and create the most individual and staggering interiors.
Visual Arts
Unwritten Letters – Fresh Lines Reading
Mon 30 Sept - Tue 1 Oct
Spring Restaurant
This beautiful heartfelt correspondence of French pupils collected by French acclaimed writer Estelle Savasta, and translated by Kirsten Hazel Smith, has become an intimate and moving theatrical experience presented here in a reading directed by Marianne Badrichani and Mark Maughan. Performed by Sarah Goddard (Hetty Feather) and Jack Bennett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
Performing Arts
Frieze London Art Fair
Thu 3 - Sun 6 Oct
Regent's Park
Frieze London’s exhibiting galleries represent some of the most exciting artists working today, from the emerging to the iconic, with over 60,000 visitors each year, including curators, artists, collectors, gallerists, critics and the general public.
Visual Arts
Frieze Masters
Thu 3 - Sun 6 Oct
Regent's Park
Frieze Masters gives a unique view on the relationship between old and new art, showing works made before the year 2000. The fair offers a unique contemporary perspective on historical art, from collectible objects to significant masterpieces.
Visual Arts
![Mephisto [A Rhapsody] by Samuel Gallet](https://www.institut-francais.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Mephisto.jpg)
Mephisto [A Rhapsody] by Samuel Gallet
Thu 3 - Sat 26 Oct
Gate Theatre
At the local theatre Aymeric dreams of celebrity; Lucas longs for a liberal revolution; Michael is seduced by the extremists; Juliette is in fear for her life. Mephisto [A Rhapsody] is a searing contemporary response to Klaus Mann’s fiercely political novel.
Performing Arts
Into the Night – Cabarets & Clubs in Modern Art
Fri 4 Oct - Sun 19 Jan
Barbican
Spanning the 1880s to the 1960s, this landmark exhibition explores the electrifying history of cabarets, cafés and clubs in modern art across the world, from London to Paris, New York, Berlin, Mexico City or Vienna, through the lens of pioneering artists.
Visual Arts
Brahms, Chopin & Debussy
Sun 6 Oct
Southbank Centre
This concert has something for every musical taste and features seven exceptional artists including Jess Gillam, Alice Sara Ott and Andreas Scholl who will play Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Satie, Piazzolla... The concert kicks off the 50 Years in a Day series.
Classical Music
The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Gauguin Portraits
Mon 7 Oct - Sun 26 Jan
The National Gallery
The first ever exhibition devoted to the portraits of Paul Gauguin. Spanning the later years of his life and focusing solely on his portraits, this exhibition follows Gauguin’s move away from Impressionism towards Symbolism.
Visual Arts
Triangular Talks: Faïza Guene, Pierre Jarawan and Azadeh Moaveni
Mon 7 Oct
The Old Joint Stock
Triangular Talks are a series of contemporary literature events organised jointly by the Institut français London and the Goethe-Institut London, supported by the deutsch-französische Kulturfonds. As part of the Birmingham Literature Festival.
Talks
Little Bob Blues Bastards
Tue 8 Oct
Bush Hall
A year after its release in France, Little Bob Blues Bastards' album New Day Coming was released in the UK by Floating World Records. On this occasion and for the first time in 40 years, Little Bob is returning to the UK.
Contemporary Music
Paris/London Back & Forth – a Bilingual Radio Show
Fri 11 - Sat 12 Oct
Alliance Française Theatre (Paris) / BBC Radio studios (London)
France Musique and BBC Radio 3 join forces to promote young talents on both sides of the Channel. A twinning in 2 sets of 2 hours, with Clément Rochefort and Katie Derham, live from Paris on 11 Oct and from London on 12 Oct.
Classical Music, Contemporary Music, Talks
Lakes International Comic Art Festival
Fri 11 - Sun 13 Oct
Cumbria
Celebrating the amazing world of comic artists, creators and writers, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival brings the biggest names in comic art to Cumbria. More than 10 French artists will be present, among which Arthur de Pins, Julie Rocheleau and Fabien Toulmé.
Talks
Orchestra of the City
Fri 11 Oct
St James's Church
The Orchestra presents an all-French programme which includes Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Debussy and Milhaud and features 2018 BBC Young Musician woodwind champion Rob Burton (saxophone). The concert will take place in beautiful St James's Church Piccadilly.
Classical Music
Nash Ensemble – Stéphanie d’Oustrac
Sat 12 Oct
Wigmore Hall
The Nash Ensemble’s series Around Schubert opens with a programme including two of Schubert’s chamber music masterpieces.The outstanding French mezzo Stéphanie d’Oustrac sings some of Weber’s arrangements of Scottish folksongs and a group of Schubert songs.
Classical Music
Except the Clouds – Bérangère Fromont
Thu 17 - Thu 31 Oct
Ofshoot Gallery
In the series Except The Clouds, the future seems to have collapsed into an indeterminate present. This vibrant disorder, contrasting with the vestiges of the old acropolis of Athens - cradle of democracy - offers a fecund space of reflection for the artist.
Visual Arts
Marielou Jacquard, Kunal Lahiry, Alex Rosen, Michał Biel
Fri 18 Oct
Wigmore Hall
Two duos present Schubert, Ravel, Fauré and Poulenc's mélodies and Lieder they have been working on during the year, under the guidance of masters such as Stéphane Degout. In co-production with Fondation Royaumont and Institut français du Royaume-Uni.
Classical Music
Release – Receive – Become: Workshop with Nacera Belaza
Sat 19 - Sun 20 Oct
Independent Dance Siobhan Davies Studios
Nacera Belaza enters dance as a self-taught interpreter, and develops a choreography that originates in an inner progress—a sensitive awareness of the body, space and of the emptiness inside her. Join her for a weekend workshop!
Performing Arts, Talks
Garnier, Oneto Bensaid, Lanièce, Louveau
Sun 20 Oct
Wigmore Hall
Two duos present Debussy, Massenet and Schumann's mélodies and Lieder they have been working on during the year, under the guidance of masters such as Véronique Gens. In co-production with Fondation Royaumont and Institut français du Royaume-Uni.
Classical Music
The Sun King and the Sultan: Louis XIV and the Ottoman Empire
Tue 22 Oct
Royal Asiatic Society
Using unpublished archives and drawings, Dr Philip Mansel, shows that the traditional alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire became a corner-stone of French foreign policy under Louis XIV. As part of Royal Asiatic Society lectures series 2019 2020.
Talks
Rockfort presents Léonore Boulanger & Howie Reeve
Fri 25 Oct
IKLECTIK
Rockfort is a column on The Quietus presenting the best in underground French music, and now launches a new series of avant-garde regular shows. Léonore Boulanger will support her special guest: Glaswegian songwriter and bassist Howie Reeve.
Contemporary Music
Jean-Guihen Queyras & Alexandre Tharaud
Mon 28 Oct
Wigmore Hall
Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and pianist Alexandre Tharaud present a programme of works including Debussy's Cello Sonata, Poulenc's Suite française and a selection from Marais’ 'Pieces de violes 3e livre' first published in 1711.
Classical Music
Sonica Glasgow
Thu 31 Oct - Sun 10 Nov
Glasgow (city-wide)
Sonica Glasgow is an 11-day biennial festival, dedicated to world-class visual sonic arts, presenting exceptional international artists alongside emerging UK talent in diverse venues, city-wide.
Contemporary Music, Performing Arts, Talks, Visual Arts
Anna Stéphany, Le Concert d’Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm
Fri 1 Nov
Wigmore Hall
The place of the cello in Baroque repertoire – often used as an obbligato instrument as well as a soloist – provides the theme of a programme that blends the sacred and the profane, from Gabrielli to Vivaldi, with the celebrated mezzo taking the vocal line.
Classical Music
Weber’s Der Freischütz – Insula Orchestra
Mon 4 Nov
Barbican
French conductor Laurence Equilbey and her Insula Orchestra present a concert performance of Weber's gothic opera Der Freischütz that defined German Romanticism, with Stanislas de Barbeyrac as Max and Johanni van Oostrum as Agathe.
Classical Music
Cédric Tiberghien – Beethoven, Brahms and Schoenberg
Sat 9 Nov
Wigmore Hall
Cédric Tiberghien is a French pianist who has a strong relationship with the Wigmore Hall in London. This time he will pursue his Beethoven Variations cycle and perform several pieces by Brahms and Schoenberg.
Classical Music
A Letter to a Friend in Gaza
Mon 18 - Sat 23 Nov
The Coronet Theatre
When today’s current events become our children’s history lessons, how will they view our actions? In filmmaker Amos Gitai’s multimedia performance, four actors - 2 Palestinian and 2 Israeli - address the foundations of the conflict at the Israel-Gaza border.
Performing Arts
Dora Maar
Wed 20 Nov - Sun 15 Mar
Tate Modern
The largest retrospective of Dora Maar ever held in the UK. During the 1930s, Maar’s provocative photomontages became celebrated icons of surrealism. This exhibition will explore the breadth of Maar's long career in the context of work by her contemporaries.
Visual Arts
Bertrand Chamayou – Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Chabrier
Mon 2 Dec
Wigmore Hall
French music, contemporary music and the music of Liszt are amongst the specialities of French pianist Bertrand Chamayou, who includes the dramatic and technically demanding Réminiscences de Don Juan S418, alongside a work by Wolfgang Rihm, written in 1975.
Classical Music, Contemporary Music
A Baroque Odyssey – 40 Years of Les Arts Florissants
Sun 8 Dec
Barbican
Born out of a belief that Baroque music should make its audiences want to laugh, cry and dance, Les Arts Florissants celebrate their 40th birthday, powered by an unquenchably Gallic joie-de-vivre.
Classical Music
Lise de la Salle
Wed 11 Dec
Kings Place
French pianist and one of today's most exciting young artists, Lise de la Salle will show her gift for illuminating the classics while performing masterpieces by Mozart, Fauré, Bach and Chopin.
Classical Music
The Lock-In: La Boulangerie
Sat 14 Dec
Kings Place
Curated by Aurora Orchestra, each Lock-In takes the public on a journey of musical discovery across diverse genres and art forms. This one will consist in a night inspired by Nadia Boulanger’s salons which were a hub for creative minds in 20th-century Paris.
Classical Music