Croatia Festival to open in France on Sept. 12

Sixty events relating to Croatian culture, education, science, tourism, economy, sport and gastronomy will be held in France from September to December as part of the festival called "Croatie, la voici", the Croatian Ministry of Culture announced earlier this week.

The festival opens in Paris on September 12 after a meeting of the two countries' culture ministers, and Croatia will be the first country of Southeast Europe to present itself as part of the Cultural Season event in France.

Culture Minister Andrea Zlatar Violic said that Croatia would present both its cultural heritage and programmes of its contemporary artists who she said were the best ambassadors of Croatia in the world today. She noted that the festival was taking place at a time of ratification of Croatia's European Union accession treaty.

Zlatar Violic said that during the festival formal cooperation would be established between the Jasenovac Memorial Centre and the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Paris, and between the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and France's National Audiovisual Centre. She added that talks were under way with Germany and Great Britain to present some of the festival programmes in those countries.

The festival costs nearly 10 million kuna (1.3 million euros) and the cost is split evenly between the two countries.

The festival will feature, among other things, an exhibition of sculptures by Ivan Mestrovic in the Rodin Museum and an exhibition of about 40 medieval works of art in the Cluny Museum. The Croatian Apoxyomenos will be put on show in the Louvre and an exhibition on the Croatian Glagolitic script will be staged in the Palais de Tau. (Hina)