Alliance Française de Colombo returns to Barnes Place
View(s):
From left- Janaka Basuriya (President of the Alliance Française)
On 3rd of June 2022, the ambassador of France to Sri Lanka Eric Lavertu participated the official reopening of the Alliance Française de Colombo, at 11 Barnes Place, Colombo 7. The ceremony was conducted by M. Bruno Duparc, director of the Alliance Française de Colombo and attended by more than 100 distinguished guests. Foreign secretary Aruni Wijewardena who is a former student of the Alliance Française, was the chief guest at this inauguration ceremony.
The ambassador in his allocution emphasized the long journey which led to the recuperation of the historical premise of the Alliance Française after 12 years in exile, and commended its important role in building cultural bridges between our two countries. In Colombo, the Alliance Française is now experiencing a brand new start after the entire renovation of its historical building: new cultural spaces, new classrooms and a fully refurbished library (16,000 books await the visitors).
The story of Alliance Française started some 139 years ago, in 1883 in Paris, under the patronage, amongothers Louis Pasteur and Jules Verne. Since then, the Alliance Française network never ceased to expand,and today, counts 830 Alliances Françaises established in 135 countries. In Sri Lanka, the first Alliance Française was founded in Colombo in 1955 (then known as Alliance Française de Ceylan), followed by the Alliance Française de Kandy (1967), Alliance Française de Jaffna (1975), Alliance Française de Matara(1997) and Alliance Française de Malé (Maldives) in 2006. The city of Galle also hosts a branch of Alliance Française attached to the Matara Center.
Ambassador Eric Lavertu, Ms Aruni Wijewardena- Foreign Secretary, Bruno Duparc (Director of Alliance Française)
Alliance Française resumes its operation in the best conditions as a French language institute, an official examination center for French tests and diplomas (TEF, DELF-DALF), a multimedia library, a Campus
France agency to propose higher education degrees in France, and a cultural center where cinema, exhibitions, conferences, concerts will be held to enhance the promotion of the French language and the cultural dialogue between France and Sri Lanka.
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