BON VOYAGE!

Le French May returns with a programme of more than 120 events, from high culture to popular music and Gourmay experiences, all ranged around the concept of a voyage

Le French May, which has been treating Hong Kong to the best of French arts and culture for close to three decades, returns at the end of this month under the theme Life is a Voyage, a line echoing the famed 19th-century French poet and novelist Victor Hugo.

With a lineup of more than 120 events, the 27th edition of the festival of all things Gallic promises a rollicking good voyage. Following are just a few of the events that should not be missed.

The programme kicks off with an exhibition focusing on one of the most popular and important feminist artists of the past century. Niki de Saint Phalle: Legendary Female Artist of the 20th Century and Her Wonderland is at the Sha Tin Town Hall exhibition hall and plaza from May 5 to June 2. While the French-born, Us-raised artist was a Renaissance woman in many ways— being a talented sculptor, painter and filmmaker—the exhibition places a special focus on her large-scale outdoor installations, acting as a promenade that leads to the indoor section of the showcase.

On the musical front, Invitation to the Voyage delivers an ingenious, multisensory performance that combines classical music, painting and poetry. The Paris Mozart Orchestra will perform Sinfonietta for String Orchestra Op. 52 by the French composer Albert Roussel, followed by a selection of works by Berlioz. Excerpts from abstract painter Nicolas de Staël writings will also be read while some of his best-known works are projected. This show, on May 8 at Hong Kong City Hall, marks the production’s debut in Asia.

Other events celebrate creative figures who bridge East and West, such as Chinese artist and sculptor Wang Keping, who moved to France in the 1980s after co-founding one of China’s first contemporary art movements.

The full programme of Le French May, too long to list in this space, includes jazz, contemporary dance and theatre performances, photography exhibitions, French design showcases and much more.

The dining series, Le French Gourmay, will highlight the dishes of central France’s Loire Valley. This is the eighth consecutive year the festival has received support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, which contributed HK$9.6 million for 2019.

Le French May runs from May 1 to June 30 at various locations. For more information, visit frenchmay.com