Copyright thehindu
The Alliance Française de Pondichéry will showcase the culture of Reunion Island, the overseas archipelago with month-long events on October. The ‘Month of Reunion Island’ fete, opening on October 1, will feature concerts, film screenings, lectures, conferences, book talks, workshops, and exhibitions, to highlight multifarious aspects of Reunion Island, which is home to volcanic landscapes, vibrant music, and living traditions shaped by intersecting influences of Africa, Europe, and Asia (India). Entries to these events are free which will be held at Alliance Francaise, Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient, Auroville and Pondicherry University. Music concerts and expos are also scheduled at other cities where the Alliance Francaise has a presence, including Chennai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. Satish Nallam, Alliance Francaise president and Laurent Jalicous, Director, told in a press conference that the month-long fete will celebrate the centuries-old historic ties between erstwhile Pondicherry and Reunion Island. “We have over 30 events, one programme every day of the month scheduled in the city”, said Mr. Jalicous. The month-long festival coincides with a phase of attempts by Reunionese to revive and deepen ties with the region of their roots. Reunion Island and Puducherry have a shared ancestral history, economic, linguistic and cultural connections that began with the earliest steamships carrying job-seeking migrants leaving these shores for French archipelagos on the Indian Ocean. Mr. Satish Nallam pointed out that a testament of this reconnecting with the roots among migrants was the installation of a ‘Stele de Memoire’ (16th to 19th centuries) in January 2010, and its renovation in 2022, at the campus of Pondicherry University. The stele was conceived as part of the “Routes of Enslaved Peoples: Resistance, Liberty and Heritage” programme supported by Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, Reunion Region, and endorsed by UNESCO. Generations of Réunionnaise have kept alive their Tamil roots, visible in language, rituals, cuisine, and festive traditions that have given shape to the creole identity, a synthesis of cultural markers. In 2018, the Alliance Francaise had presented four prominent bands that had regaled audiences with the Reunion Island’s distinct Maloya musical tradition of slam, rock, reggae, jazz and dance, and the popular Ziskakan band in 2023. This year, the flagbearer of the island’s Maloya music genre rooted in African and Malagasy rhythms is Kafmaron, singer-songwriter who fuses traditional music with reggae influences. The exhibitions are “Dig-Dig tickling in creole”, a photo expo by Ysabelle Gomez and “Cilaes, a spirit by Laurent de Gebhard” (October 1-12/AFP), Ysabelle Gomez & “Cilaes, a spirit by Laurent de Gebhard, on the enslaved boy-turned-horticulturist “Edmond Albius” (October 14-26) and “Furcy Madeleine” (the slave who dared to demand freedom/October 28-November 9). The other highlights are literary presentations/book talks featuring historian Gilles Gauvin, History of slavery in Reunion Island through comics (University), musical reading and writing workshop led by by Gaëlle Belem, novelist, a panel discussion on post-indenture memory and screening of select films. The Alliance Française de Pondichéry in the city, which is home to India’s largest Francophone community, has been seeing an uptick in French language learners, a nearly 40% increase in student enrolments, and is third ranked in administering DELF (Diplôme d’études en langue française) after Delhi and Mumbai. “The rise in students learning the French language is also opening up employment opportunities in France for aspirants here”, said Dr. Nallam. Going forward, the Alliance Française de Pondichéry will turn a communications hub for coordination within the network of 15 chapters across India, Mr. Jalicous said.
