Arts
It’s fun and French @ AFK
There’s a blaze of evening light over Kandy. A breeze wafts through the windows of Hotel Casamara’s rooftop bar and among the low tables around which people are speaking French; students both local and foreign; travellers and expatriates; teachers, and proprietors of restaurants. All of them, getting to know one another amidst games of charades, explaining to each other the phenomena of Yannick Noah and Réné Goscinny, have one thing in common: the Alliance Française de Kandy.
The AFK (above) and (right), Director Mikael Lenglet with Iranian film director Kianoush Ramezani and Charith Liyanage. Pix by Chamod Herath
The AFK, as it is referred to by members, has been bringing people together for quite some time; fifty years, in fact. Today, the event is Café Francophile: an opportunity to improve their spoken French with other French speakers. Later in February they made French pancakes at the Kandy City Centre and the week after, they organised a masquerade for the Mardi Gras at the OZO Kandy. It’s a busy time.
The AFK has always been a place where things happen. As Mikael Lenglët, director since June 2016 and considered by students to be one of the “young directors”, says, “The primary mission of the AFK is cultural. It aims to promote the Francophone language and culture, but it is at the same time a Sri Lankan organisation.” Like the other 850 branches of the Alliance Française Foundation in Paris, the AFK can choose how best to carry out an intercultural exchange in its home city. The AFK, as Charitha Liyanage, Courses and Cultural Programmes Manager puts it, has chosen to be “more than a language institute that teaches French – it is a crossroad between Sri Lankan and Francophone culture.”
Nevertheless, the AFK places the highest emphasis on the teaching and usage of the French language. As well as offering lessons for French students of all levels, it is the only institution in Kandy to offer and prepare students for the DELF/DALF (the French equivalent of the Cambridge English Language Assessment) qualification examinations up to the C1 level, which not all Alliance Françaises can offer given the high level of exposure to the language which the course demands. Teachers undergo regular training and all members have access to Kandy’s best French language library, as well as to Culturethèque, a vast digital library for Alliance Française members worldwide.
A recent renovation placed televisions and Wi-Fi access in every classroom, because the lessons are nothing if not unorthodox and interactive – there are times when every classroom in the building echoes simultaneously with the sounds of Luis Mariano, a French operetta singer, or updates from Radio France Internationale, or the strident tones of the film “La Haine”.
Dr. Jacques Soulié, member of the AFK since 1995 and director from 2002-2012, believes that it is this incorporation of technology which enables the AFK’s teaching methods to develop so well.
The AFK also gives students the chance to test themselves against the rest of the Francophone world through such contests as the Plume D’Or held in March. In April, in association with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Paris, AFK will offer courses for internationally recognized diplomas in professional French, focusing on tourism, hospitality, business and fashion.
Yet what sets the AFK apart from other language institutions is that their manner of imparting knowledge extends far beyond the classroom. President of the AFK’s executive committee J. Wijedasa, who began his French education at the AFK decades ago believes that the AFK’s popularity is due to the fact that it has always provided a unique blend of French education, and cultural space. Nissanka Bandara, secretary of the students’ committee, agrees: “Students understand that they can come here not only to learn French, but to take part in activities.”
The Alliance would not be itself without its twice monthly screening of Francophone movies, or its monthly exhibition dealing with Sri Lankan or Francophone themes – this month, bright collages by artist Madhawa Suwarnajith greet students passing through the hall on their way to class. It is a hall that has seen many exhibitions: Mr. Wijedasa speaks with particular enthusiasm of an exhibition by the famous cartoonist Camillus Perera, creator of Gajaman and Siribiris, held in 2004.
Dr. Soulié remembers the series of monodramas, solo translation-adaptations of famous French novels, performed by the late Dr. Mark Amerasinghe, as well as art workshops and documentary exhibitions for schools, supported by artist Thilak Palliyaguruge, and believes that the AFK has been vital to the emergence of new artistic vocations in Kandy.
Last month’s Drawing Freely exhibition not only educated viewers on the freedom of speech movement carried out by political cartoonists worldwide, but also included the Wall of Freedom, an enormous canvas on which the public was welcome to express their thoughts pertaining to this theme, as well the “Night of Ideas”, a discussion with Iranian cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani, now living in exile in Paris, and Sri Lankan professionals Shyamali Ranaraja, Liyanage Amarakeethi and Malinda Seneviratne.
The ‘Night of Ideas’ is an example of why the AFK stands out. While Kianoush Ramezani’s ties to both Iran and France provided the audience with fresh perspectives on freedom of expression, the experience of the Sri Lankan professionals allowed the audience to compare their own situation with these perspectives. It is this type of combination, says the director, “which promotes a better exchange, a better exposure of the mind and the spirit, to the culture of the world”, and makes the AFK unique. Here is not only a window into the ever-changing international landscape, but to the equally kaleidoscopic one of Sri Lanka.
And yet, perhaps one of the best things about the AFK is that, over the last 50 years, the youth of Kandy have come to realize that they are welcome there. On any given day, students of all ages can be seen dotted around the AFK garden, chatting or doing homework.
Some have classes, some have come just to hang out, and that is allowed, even encouraged, at the AFK. “French is a living language,” explains the director. “It’s a language spoken in the modern world, it’s a language of communication, and it’s a language of the youth. The youth of Kandy understand that at the Alliance Française, French can serve them well, and also that it is fun.”