UNITED KINGDOM
Area: 244 101 km2 - Population: 60.2 million - Capital: London
Official Language: English - Date of joining the EU: 1973
A FEW INDICATIONS
The United Kingdom has made an exceptional contribution to the world’s cultural and artistic heritage: philosophy, fine arts, literature, music, theatre, plastic arts, decorative arts, architecture, cinema, fashion... are among the fields of the most important figures, both in history and the contemporary world. We will mention a few names, not in any particular order: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, William Blake, Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Jane Austen, Lord Byron, John Keats, Charles Dickens, Brontë sisters, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, T.S. Eliot, H.G. Wells, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Dylan Thomas, Harold Pinter (Nobel 2005), Doris Lessing (Nobel 2007), Sarah Kane, Irvine Welsh, Zadie Smith (literature, poetry, theatre); Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten (music); John Constable, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Edward Burne-Jones, John Ruskin, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Lucian Freud, Damien Hirst, as well as the « Turner Prize » winners Richard Deacon, Gilbert & George, Richard Long, Jeremy Deller (plastic arts); Christopher Wren, Wallis Gilbert & Partners, Sir Norman Foster (architecture; the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Radiohead (contemporary music); Alfred Hitchcock, Derek Jarman, Peter Greenaway, Ken Loach, Stephen Frears, John Boorman, Danny Boyle (cinema); Mary Quant, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Stella McCartney (fashion designer), are only a few noteworthy examples illustrating the artistic richness and vitality of the United Kingdom. The National Gallery, the Tate Modern Gallery, the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Albert Hall, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Edimbourg Festival are among the principal British institutions in terms of rich collections and the quality of their programming.
ORGANIZATION OF CULTURAL POLICIES
Partly financed by the Ministry of Culture, of Media and of Sports, the Arts Council (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) are the leading players in the United Kingdom’s cultural policy. The British Council, founded in 1934, is an international organization that works on creation of lasting relationships between the United Kingdom and other countries in the world, particularly thanks to cultural and educational exchanges.
Events connected with the country
Franco-British Tandem
19-30 November in Paris, Théâtre de la Ville
Dance
In-l
Choreography: Akram Khan
With Juliette Binoche
An encounter between two famous figures of stage and cinema
And also...
18 September-2 January in Paris, Palais de Tokyo
Exhibition
Carte blanche for Jeremy Deller:
From one revolution to another
A former winner of the Turner Prize, Jeremy Deller, and his guests will occupy the Palais de Tokyo for 3 months.
27 September à Marseille, Festival Marsatac
Music
Honoring Liverpool
After Glasgow, Brighton and Manchester, a spotlight on Liverpool’s youthful rock, pop, and electro scene.
29 September-4 October in Nanterre, Théâtre des Amandiers (Autumn Festival)
Theatre
A Disappearing Number
Staged by: Simon McBurney
Compagnie Complicite
2-5 October in Dinard
Cinema
19th Festival of British films
6 feature-length films in competition, pre-premieres and retrospectives. The Entente Cordiale Prize for the best short film in the "Compétition FEMIS/NFTS" selection, supported by the British Council, will be awarded.
October-February in Bourbourg, Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines
Sculpture/ Exhibition
Sir Anthony Caro inBourbourg (59)
In connection with the restoration of the choir of the St-Jean-Baptiste church, the Ministry of Culture and Communcation initiated the « Chœur de lumière » (Light Choir), a public commission entrusted to Sir Anthony Caro. That commission, unique in terms of scope and singularity, will be inaugurated on October 11.
11 October-23 February in Calais (Musée des Beaux-arts de la dentelle), Dunkerque (a center of art and contemporary action), Gravelines (musée du Dessin et de l’estampe originale)
Anthony Caro Retrospective
Three places in Pas-de-Calais present a retrospective of Anthony Caro’s work, on the occasion of the inauguration of the
St-Jean-Baptiste de Bourbourg church. This exhibition is probably the most important one ever devoted to this artist in France.
For more information :
British Council France
9 rue de Constantine - 75007 Paris
- Updated: 18.06.2008
