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A Cultural Vanguard Brings Paris To The Israeli Springtime

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  • A Cultural Vanguard Brings Paris To The Israeli Springtime

    A CULTURAL VANGUARD BRINGS PARIS TO THE ISRAELI SPRINGTIME
    By Goel Pinto

    Ha'aretz, Israel
    May 11 2006

    PARIS - During a visit to Israel six months ago, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor
    decided to hold a French cultural season in Israel. The decision was
    certainly not taken thoughtlessly. For the most part, the personal
    ideology of someone who believes that culture mirrors everything in
    life lies behind the idea to hold a "French spring" in Israel.

    Poivre d'Arvor heads the French Association for Artistic Action
    (AFAA), which has been operating for over 80 years to create cultural
    cooperation between France and the rest of the world. The association's
    headquarters is located in the 7th Arondissement in Paris, between
    the Austrian consulate and the military museum, Les Invalides. In the
    entrance hangs a picture of the Eiffel Tower painted red, a one-time
    gesture by the AFAA to mark the Year of China in France, in 2004.

    Each year, France announces it will focus on a different country,
    and during that year, the best of that country's culture is presented
    to the French audience. Last year was the Year of Brazil and next
    year will be the Year of Armenia, during which a huge concert by the
    world's most famous Armenian, singer Charles Aznavour, will be held.

    The Year of Israel took place eight years ago.

    Poivre D'Arvor, a man with a dry sense of humor, sometimes - perhaps
    deliberately - forgets his diplomatic role. The initiative for a
    season of French culture, to kick off next week in Israel, he says,
    was not conceived as a gesture of mutuality in the wake of the Year
    of Israel in France.

    "I still have not received the letter of invitation," he says with
    slight sarcasm.

    A few months ago, Israel refused to sign the "Convention for the
    Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions"
    initiated by UNESCO, and its refusal was what led to the decision.

    "We are not all the same," and "do not all have the same culture,"
    states the convention, which is based on a consensus that every
    country has the right to promote its culture. It was signed by 148
    countries, four abstained and two were opposed: the United States,
    which felt that it was an activity directed against the American
    culture dominating the world, and Israel, which followed suit.

    "Today, everyone's fantasy is to be American," says Poivre d'Arvor.

    "In another 20 years everyone will want to be Chinese, and in another
    50 years we will all be citizens of Dubai or Brazil or India. The
    UNESCO document states that differences exist. I don't understand why
    Israel was so quick to refuse to sign the document, since it of all
    countries has to protect its very fragile culture, the Hebrew language,
    which is spoken by so few people. The founders of the State of Israel
    were dreamers, but in order to dream you need culture.

    Enough with watching American television all day long," he says,
    raising his voice.

    "Halas," he adds, and for a moment it seems as though he is returning
    to the late 1980s, when he served as the director of the French
    Institute in Alexandria, Egypt and as his country's cultural attache
    at the embassy. "There is more than that to life. To open a book,
    to take an interest in the cultures of others, and then one day the
    Israelis will take an interest not only in the sounds of explosions,
    but in culture as well."

    We will help the Palestinians

    The French season in Israel, which has the charming name "Voila!" -
    with a logo that emphasizes the letters "IL" to represent Israel -
    will begin on May 16 with a pyrotechnics extravaganza, a performance
    and fireworks display by the "F Group." The group will light up the
    skies of Tel Aviv with a cacophony of color, just as it did at the
    Athens 2004 Olympics, the Winter Olympics in Torino and the Millenium
    festivities on the Eiffel Tower. Poivre d'Arvor says that he chose
    this show as the opening shot, because "anyone who has been in Tel Aviv
    and does not see that you like craziness, is either stupid or blind."

    Aside from the opening evening, there will be, among other things,
    the "Dialogues" fashion show by Christian Lacroix, in the Reading
    power station building in Tel Aviv (May 17-June 15), and at the
    Jerusalem Film Festival there will be a retrospective of the films
    of Isabelle Huppert.

    Surprisingly, the season of French culture will take place only in
    Israel, and will not spill over to the Palestinian Authority areas.

    "I respect Israel," he says, "because it respects its culture and it
    has the means to display important works of art, and cinematheques
    in which to present films. In Palestine there are not even minimal
    conditions. In the coming years we will help the Palestinians construct
    such buildings, so that in the future we will be able to have a season
    of French culture there."

    Poivre d'Arvor believes with all his heart that culture can change
    situations, even a serious conflict such as that between Israel and
    the Palestinians. "I am very familiar with the situation in the Middle
    East, I come to Israel often, my partner is Israeli, and I don't hear,
    from any direction, that culture can change the situation between the
    Israelis and the Palestinians. It sounds absurd to people, a statement
    by Don Quixote on his donkey. But I believe in it. The Jews, like
    the Muslims, are a nation with a glorious cultural past. Why are we
    connected to the Jewish people? Because of its culture, not because
    of the prime ministers, who are replaceable."

    Poivre d'Arvor believes that if Israel were to build a cultural
    institution in other countries, it would gain sympathy. "You only
    have to look around," he says. "The British have the British Council,
    the Germans have the Goethe Institute and the French have the French
    Institute. The goal of all these groups is to connect to countries on
    the cultural level. With a relatively modest budget, Israel should also
    establish an Israeli cultural institution in countries it considers
    important to gain international public opinion. Artists like Daniel
    Barenboim contribute to the improvement of Israel's image in a way
    that no foreign ministry can. Nobody can accuse cultural figures of
    defending government policy, and that can change everything."

    Poivre d'Arvor, 48, began his career as a journalist at Le Matin de
    Paris and afterwards directed a theater group in Lyon. Over the past
    20 years, he has served as a cultural attache at French missions in
    Alexandria, Prague and London. He is a writer who has written many
    novels, some with his brother Patrick, who is 11 years his senior
    and one of the most famous journalists in France.

    Inferiority complex

    Poivre d'Arvor believes that the French connection to Israeli culture,
    and vice versa, is no coincidence. "Which country welcomes Israeli
    culture more than any other country?" he asks. "I know that the Jewish
    community in France, and Israelis in general, have a great deal of
    criticism about France's attitude towards them, but the fact is that
    not a day goes by when one opens a newspaper - Le Monde, La Figaro,
    Liberation - and doesn't find an article in it about a new Israeli
    book that has been translated, or about an Israeli film.

    France has many shortcomings, but in one area, culture, there is a
    genuine consensus that culture must be supported. We believe that
    the world does not consist only of numbers and economics, but also,
    and mainly, of emotions and an exchange of opinions. We have also
    been enriched by importing culture and artists. All the great French
    artists of the last century were foreigners: Picasso, Chagall, Dali."

    However, even Poivre d'Arvor admits that French culture has declined
    in recent years. "It's true, and it's a good thing," he says.

    "Culture that consistently remains on a high level becomes arrogant.

    Today, nobody has any right to dominate the world. It is important
    that we received some blows, that the French language is no longer
    spoken and admired, that our cinema does not sweep the world off its
    feet, and that our writers are not the greatest writers in the world.

    When I read Israeli writers I have an inferiority complex. It was
    hard to accept that, and in France there are doubts and questions
    regarding this matter. We are trying to change it, not in order to
    dominate the world again, but in order to better understand it."
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