The International City of the French Language in Villers-Cotterêts (Aisne), whose first director was appointed on Monday, is due to open in June, announced the Ministry of Culture.
“The progress of the various projects led by the Center des monuments nationaux makes it possible to set the opening to the public of this City during the month of June”
, indicated the ministry in a press release.
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This City is located in a city of Picardy famous for an ordinance of 1539 which made French the privileged language for all the administrative acts of the kingdom of François Ier.
It will be installed in a former royal residence which deteriorated considerably after the disappearance of the Ancien Régime, until the launch in 2020 of renovation works for 185 million euros.
Read also“This language opens up culture”: these foreign families who speak French at home
The appointment of Paul Rondin was announced by Minister Rima Abdul Malak in an interview with the newspaper
Le Monde
, then confirmed by a press release from the ministry.
The latter made himself known above all as deputy director of the Festival d'Avignon, from 2013 to 2022. He will have to give impetus and an identity to a project which, defended by President Emmanuel Macron, has aroused a certain skepticism.
La Cité promises 1,600 m2 of permanent and temporary exhibitions open to the public, a 250-seat auditorium,
"12 residency workshops for artists, researchers and entrepreneurs"
from the Francophonie, and even a
"research and innovation laboratory on linguistic issues”
.
The renovation also made it possible to reopen the castle to the inhabitants, by offering a passage between the city and the forest of Retz.
The city of Villers-Cotterêts (10,000 inhabitants), located in the south of Aisne and led by a National Rally mayor since 2014, has been hard hit by deindustrialization.
