Celebrating Francophonie

March is the international month for celebrating the French language, French speakers and Francophone cultures around the world. Like last year, we have a range of events lined up at the Alliance Française de Karachi to join these international celebrations. Check them out:

1. The World’s Greatest French Dinner at Côte Rôtie on 21 March 2019 (7 to 11 PM)

   Unsurprisingly, the celebrations begin with French food. Goût de France/Good France celebrates French gastronomy around the world in partnership with French embassies abroad and chefs from over 3,000 participating restaurants who simultaneously host French dinners on 21 March. This unique global event is held on 5 continents in over 150 countries, including Karachi, Pakistan at Côte Rôtie. This popular evening has limited seats that go fast! Book yours early by calling Côte Rôtie at (021) 35296345 or (92) 316 2882880.

2. A French Play: Où on va, papa ? (Where we going, Daddy?) on 22 March 2019 (8 PM)

   This poignant play, to be performed by Xavier Carrar and directed by Layla Metssitane, is based on a largely autobiographical novel by Jean-Louis Fournier telling the story of a father raising his two sons, Mathieu and Thomas, both born with debilitating physical and mental challenges. Free entry but please be punctual. Seats will be given on a first come, first served basis. The play will be performed in French with English subtitles appearing on a screen.

3. Francophonie Open Day on 30 March 2019 (11 AM to 2 PM)

   Are you interested in learning the French language and discovering French culture? Wondering why you should study French? Come to our yearly Francophonie Open Day on Saturday, 30 March 2019 and try out a free demo French class and other activities. You don't need to know any French to attend and the event is free and open to all. Just send us an email at frontdesk[at]afkarachi[dot]com if you or your child (we welcome ages 7 and up) would like to attend the demo French class. Last year, we had a full house with our current and prospective students and visitors who enjoyed a free demo French class, a quiz about French culture with prizes, a game of pétanque, and a French potluck lunch!

We hope to see you all chez nous. À bientôt !

Meet the #AFKats

If you’ve ever visited the Alliance Française de Karachi, chances are you’ve met the two feline legends that grace it with their presence. Paco and Twix—or the #AFKats as they prefer to be addressed—do more than just meow, sleep, and eat, though that is precisely what they always appear to be doing to the untrained eye. Longtime students and teachers of the French language in Karachi and discerning visitors to our cultural events have benefited from their singular wit and wisdom for years. Not too long ago, we caught up with the #AFKats in an exclusive interview. Watch what they have to say about French, books, language learning advice and their life at the Alliance Française de Karachi.

If you’ve ever visited the Alliance Française de Karachi, chances are you’ve met the two feline legends that grace it with their presence. Paco and Twix—or the #AFKats as they prefer to be addressed—do more than just meow, sleep, and eat, though that is precisely what they always appear to be doing to the untrained eye. Longtime students and teachers of the French language in Karachi and discerning visitors to our cultural events have benefited from their singular wit and wisdom for years. Not too long ago, we caught up with the #AFKats in an exclusive interview. Watch what they have to say about French, books, language learning advice and the Alliance Française de Karachi.

The artist's take on "Face au Présent"

Have you seen our new mural? Last week, on 31 January 2019, concurrently with thousands of similar events around the world, the Alliance Française de Karachi celebrated the country’s first Night of Ideas. This fascinating international event, which first began in Paris, follows a new, thought-provoking theme each year, interpreting it through conferences, seminars, forums and round tables, screenings and artistic performances late into the night. This year’s theme was Face au Présent, or Facing the Present.

Here in Karachi, we hosted a dynamic program inviting the city’s artists and intellectuals to participate in a debate, a concert, film screenings, exhibits a well as a live graffiti on the theme.

Here’s what the man behind the graffiti, Obaid ur Rehman, a talented, self-taught 3D/anamorphic chalk artist and muralist, has to say about his work:

The theme/title of the mural is Face au Présent (Facing the Present). 

This mural was inspired by one of the works of great Leon Keer. 

This mural is about my city Karachi and the rapid urbanization that is taking place and making living in this city difficult with all the chaos, mismanagement and lawlessness around us.

The box represents the city. The box is almost full and yet things (buildings/structures/people) are being added to it without any concern for the order or organization which is creating a mess and chaos for people living within.

In the present, we need to raise the question on the rapid direction-less growth of our city for a better future.

Come check it out in person!

The Story Share Initiative

The Alliance Française  de Karachi is proud to host curated dialogue through Shared Studios Portals as part of CAP’s Story Share Initiative (SSI).

SSI brings together maestros of Pakistani arts and culture—artists, writers, performers, poets, architects, literary critics, storytellers, and interested students from various institutions—using immersive audiovisual technology “portals” to enable dialogue and discussion on civic engagement, freedom of expression and shared interests in arts and culture.

CAP will set up these portals in Lahore and Karachi. Portals are gold spaces equipped with immersive audiovisual technology. When you enter the portal you come face-to-face with someone in a distant portal live and full-body as if in the same room.

Check out the program taking place at the Alliance Française de Karachi and join the conversation!

Pakistan's first Night of Ideas: Facing the Present

La Nuit Des Idées (The Night of Ideas) is an evening of intellectual debate, performances, interactive activities and fun, conceived two years ago in France and since then a recurring yearly event. The Alliance Française de Karachi is going to host the first ever Night of Ideas in Pakistan and we have planned a dynamic program from 6:30-10 pm on Thursday, the 31st of January 2019.

With a theme of “Face au Présent” (Facing the Present), the key event of Night of Ideas: Facing the Present will be a friendly public debate on Karachi's challenges today and tomorrow, with a twist: we'll pit a team of intellectuals versus artists and ask them to present their case on why intellectuals/artists are best suited to deal with and find solutions for these challenges. Each speaker will have 7 minutes to present their case. The purpose of the debate is to stimulate a vigorous discussion on not just the challenges but various approaches to our problems and the possibilities of collaboration among many disciplines, both artistic and intellectual, to solve them together.

Moderator: Saad Shafqat

INTELLECTUALS

> Marvi Mazhar (Urban Planning) Architect & Heritage Consultant

> Arieb Azhar (Culture) Director at T2F, Musician & Writer

> Niilofur Farrukh (Art) CEO & Managing Trustee, Karachi Biennale Trust

ARTISTS

> Saima Zaidi (Communication Design) Professor of Communication & Design, Habib University

> Sabiha Sumar (Filmmaking) Director & Producer, Vidhi Films

> Mohammad Zeeshan (Art) Curator, Karachi Biennale 2019

We are also thrilled to announce an exciting collaboration with The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) and Peeru's Cafe, Lahore to bring you a unique story sharing experience at the Alliance Française de Karachi as part of the evening. CAP will set up Shared Studios portals in Lahore and Karachi. Portals are gold spaces equipped with immersive audiovisual technology. When you enter the portal you come face-to-face with someone in a distant portal live and full-body as if in the same room.

For the Night of Ideas, CAP will be setting up one portal at Alliance Francaise Karachi on the 31st of January, and the other at Peeru's Cafe in Lahore. The portals will enable impromptu conversations, interactions and dialogue between visitors of these two locations in line with the theme of the night, Facing the Present. Come join the exchange.

The night will also feature short film screenings by CAP, a live graffiti project by 3D muralist Obaid ur Rehman and a concert by the Tarz Group playing a fusion of eastern and western music with vioin, sitar, tabla and dholak.

The Night of Ideas will be free and open to all. Save the date and learn more here.

#nightofideas #lanuitdesidees #afkarachi

Eiffel Scholarship takes Pakistani student to a top business school

Testimonial by Muhammad Salman ARIF, Eiffel scholar, Msc in Financial Markets and Investments, SKEMA Business School, France

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship has helped me pursue my dream to study abroad at a top ranked university, for which I am extremely grateful. It is a great initiative taken by the Government of France, which allows students from around the globe to pursue an MSc degree or PHD at an institution of their choice.

After being selected for the prestigious scholarship everything was well taken care of, right from the beginning. The representatives at the French Embassy in Islamabad were very helpful and guided us throughout the visa application process. Even until today, when in need I always reach out to them for any assistance. I consider myself privileged to have gotten the opportunity to dine with the French ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Marc Barety, who was very kind to invite all the recipients of the Scholarship over to his place.

I am currently pursuing MSc Financial Markets & Investments at the Skema Business School in Paris. The program is ranked 4th globally for Finance by Financial times. My curriculum is spread over a span of 18 months and, needless to say, the school benefits from an excellent faculty and a strong, rigorous and competitive course structure.

Campus France manages everything for the scholarship holders which includes travelling, housing, etc. They also helped me find my accommodation at Cité Universitaire, which is in the 14th district and is an amazing place to stay at. Given the diversity at Cité, I get the chance to meet and interact with people from different background and culture. A number of events take place in Cité all-around the year like dance, music, theater, debates and other cultural activities. All of this has helped me hone my interpersonal skills and beyond.

Paris, a magical city that offers a lot to explore along with its central location that makes it easy to travel across Europe and one can never be more than a short trip away from some sort of cultural offering, awe-inspiring sight, or taste bud-teasing delight. The well connected metro lines and RER’s enables one to explore the city and makes conveyance hassle free. My stay here has also given me the chance to acquire French language skills which help me connect better with the locals. My experience so far has been astounding and have found the Parisians to be very helpful and welcoming.

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship has definitely given me a great platform to showcase my talent and has brought me a step closer to achieving my goals. It is hands down an opportunity worth seizing and I would urge students applying to France to take advantage of this.

Learn more about the Eiffel Scholarship here.

What's up at AFK in December?

Decembers in Karachi: the promise of cool evenings, hot coffee, shawl weather, and holiday cheer. As we look ahead to this season of reflection, downtime, and hopefully some real winter, welcome to yet another issue of our monthly newsletter, Bonjour Karachi!

This month, consider participating in a life coaching workshop that could help you unlock your next big idea. For Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan fans, we have a special double-bill documentary screening about the life of the legend. And if you'd like to commit to learning or improving your French in 2019, our new batch of classes starts up in January. 

We also made you a list of our favorite resources to sharpen your French skills and a collection of curious photos from our library over the years.

By the way, the Alliance Française de Karachi will be on a winter hiatus from from 22 December 2018 to 1 January 2019. We'll be back as usual starting 2 January 2019.

Until then, we wish you a joyous holiday season, bonne année, and joyeux Noël to all celebrating. Stay warm, Karachi.

A look back at the AFK library

Students, pianists, friends, yogis, performers, visitors, loungers, snackers and chatters. We went through our archives and found these curious photos from our library, which has hosted many a rendezvous over the years. Take a look…

Credit: AFK / CAP Archive

Votre maison n'est pas sale. Pourquoi votre classe ?

Votre maison n'est pas sale. Pourquoi votre classe ?

“Your house isn’t littered. So why your classroom?” asks a thought-provoking poster in one of the Alliance Française de Karachi classrooms. Made by our environmentally-conscious and artistic A2a French students with our very own professor Akmal Abbasi, these handmade posters—en français of course—raise awareness about the importance of a clean environment and offer suggestions to keep your spaces clean. Check out their work.

Build your French vocabulary:

environnement: environment

maison: house

salle: room

sale: dirty

propre: clean

déchet: waste

poubelle: dustbin or garbage can

Alumni spotlight: Ali Arshad

We are so proud of Alliance Française de Karachi alum Ali Arshad who is currently doing his Masters in International Management at the Paris campus of ESCP Europe! Ali was a gifted student of the French language and an active part of our Francophile community in Karachi.

See what Ali has to say about his time studying French:

“Living in the most beautiful city and speaking the most beautiful language got me soaked into an entirely new culture and world view. I'm glad I started learning French back at Alliance Française de Karachi and am glad I chose France as destination country for my studies.”

Ali Arshad

We wish Ali bonne chance for his education and hope he enjoys la vie française!