The Alliance française is an organization whose goal is to promote the French language and culture. In New York, the president of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is none other than Tatyana Franck, former director of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne.
After seven years at the helm of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Tatyana Franck has embarked on new challenges in New York since March. She joined the French Alliance Française Institute (FIAF) as executive president, in this city that she knows well from having studied there. Tatyana Franck is now dedicated to promoting French languages and Francophone cultures to an American audience that has a great appetite for this type of culture.
“The Alliances Françaises were created at the end of the 19th century, in 1870, when France had lost the war. France was in ruins and had this idea of creating local associations all over the world. It has almost 850 Alliances françaises in all. the world that are all private, all funded by private donors, ticketing revenue and patronage. And the FIAF is the merger of the Alliance française of New York, which is the largest in the world in terms of revenue, and an institution called The Museum of French Art, an institution created by French-speaking American Francophiles who are passionate about France, “Tatyana Franck told RTS.
The FIAF has a fascinating history that Tatyana Franck wants to make known better. The president’s mission: to be a bridge between French-speaking countries in New York by giving French lessons, organizing language trips, but also promoting French-speaking culture through art.
Clear links with Switzerland
Despite her new activities, Tatyana Franck has not forgotten her links with photography and Switzerland. “In the vision I have for the FIAF, the goal is really to promote the whole of Francophonie and Switzerland is a full part of it. In particular, we recently organized a conference by the Genevan writer Joël in Montclair, New Jersey. Dicker, because several of his novels have a plot and protagonists who come from Montclair! The link was quite evident. We have many other projects with Switzerland “, points out Tatyana Franck.
The president of the FIAF also closely follows the activities of Platform 10, in Lausanne, with which she regularly collaborates.
Interview by Florence Grivel
Web adaptation: ld
