Last Monday (June 2) at Thailand Cultural Centre’s Main Hall, HRH Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously presided over the opening concert of Bangkok’s annual French cultural festival, “La Fête”.

When the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (BSO), conducted by Michaël Cousteau, performed the first notes of Maurice Ravel’s “Pavane pour une Infante défunte” (“Pavane of a Dead Princess”) as a tribute in memory of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, an eminent supporter of the arts and a distinguished cultural ambassador for the two nations, the month-long celebration of French and Thai arts commenced.

                                        Michaël Cousteau                                                                             Sophie Marin-Degor 

Towards the end of the concert’s first part, world renowned soprano Sophie Marin-Degor delightfully crooned Jacque Offenbach’s “J’ai deux amants” (“Tipsy song”)—playfully, and of course seemingly tipsily, walking around the spaces among the musicians and really toying with them. She also repeated this impromptu in the encore. These moments perhaps reflect the true nature of this multi-disciplinary city-wide showcase of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and gastronomy, both free-admission and reasonably priced ticketed. As Thai artists are taking significant parts in many events, “La Fête” is gradually becoming a French-Thai cultural festival.

“I think a festival like ‘La Fête’ is important for everybody who’s interested in the arts,” says the Embassy of France’s Cultural Attaché Stéphane Négrin in an exclusive interview with The Nation.

“Personally, I’m interested in modern arts, and back in Paris, I read many publications to learn about upcoming modern arts activities. Since I arrived here seven months ago, I read about performances that already ended. In terms of performing arts here, it’s quite classical, while the visual arts are a little more modern. When you go around the city, you see many modern designs, so I don’t quite understand the gap. I don’t know where Thai people go to watch modern performing arts.”

“It’s strange that here there are more than one jazz festivals, taking place almost at the same time, and more than one dance festivals, but no multi-disciplinary festivals. So, for modern arts lovers, it’s good that you can see modern dance, theatre, music, and visual arts in one month and one programme. Of course, for us organizers, it’s a very difficult job.”  

“My job is to show the Thai audiences what French people are watching. And today, when we go to the theatre, we can see nouveau cirque, modern puppetry, and, of course, classical ballet and music. In France, there is this mix [of arts genres].”