The focus of this year’s 12th annual International Week of the Francophonie at Glendon will be York’s 50th birthday as the Glendon community comes together to present four days of entertaining and educational programs. There will be a special emphasis on literature, lectures, gastronomy, the visual arts, theatre and music, including opera and jazz, all with a distinctly French flavour.
Everyone is welcome to join in the activities on campus as well as those held throughout Toronto from March 19 to 23.
Francophones from five continents celebrate International Francophonie Day each year on March 20. This date commemorates the 1970 signing of a treaty in Niger, which was responsible for the creation of the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique, known today as the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Marking this event has resulted in many other celebrations during the month of March, including Francophone Week in Toronto. At Glendon, International Francophonie Day was created in 1998 through the efforts of French multidisciplinary studies Professor Emeritus Alain Baudot, director and founder of Glendon’s publishing house – Éditions du GREF. Since that time, Glendon’s Artistic and Cultural Affairs has continued this tradition each year.
Glendon International Week of the Francophonie 2009 schedule of events
Thursday, March 19
- 3pm – A conversation with Quebec playwright Carole Fréchette: The author’s career, between the whisperings of the self and the noise of the world. Location: Glendon Theatre. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6822. Carole Fréchette has been a force in Quebec theatre for more than 25 years. Her plays, translated into several languages, are performed all over the world. She won the 1995 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for her play Les Quatre morts de Marie (The Four Lives of Marie) and the 1998 Chalmers Award for Creativity and Excellence in the Arts for the same play translated into English.
- 5:30pm – Theatre: Les quatre morts de Marie (The Four Lives of Marie), a presentation by students of the Drama Studies Program at Glendon. Guest director: Rose Plotek. Guest set and costume designer: Lindsay Walker. Location: Glendon Theatre. Admission is $5 for students, $10 for adults. To make reservations, call 416-487-6822. Les quatre morts de Marie, written by Quebec playwright Carole Fréchette, follows the journey of Marie’s life in a series of four tableaus as she confronts grief, rebellion, absurdity and solitude, while encountering interesting people along the way.
- 7:30pm – Reception with Carole Fréchette. Location: Glendon Gallery, Glendon Manor. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6824.
Friday, March 20 – International Francophonie Day
- 10:30am to 12pm – Public Lecture: “Evolution of Spoken French by Franco-Ontarian Adolescents (1978 vs. 2005): Influence of School and Community”. Speaker: Raymond Mougeon, director of the Glendon Centre for Research on Language Contact. Location: BMO Conference Centre, Glendon Manor. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6824.
- Noon – Lunch & Reflection – Thoughts about the Glendon Gallery’s current exhibition "A World in Need of Mending" by Josette Villeneuve. There will be a round-table discussion with art historian and art sociologist Véronique Tomaszewski and Glendon Gallery’s curator Marc Audette about the exhibit, created from clothing labels from all over the world. A light lunch will be served. Location: Glendon Gallery, Glendon Manor. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6721.
- 8pm – Theatre: Les quatre morts de Marie. Location: Glendon Theatre. Admission is $5 for students, $10 for adults. To order tickets, call the Glendon Box Office at 416-487-6822.
Saturday, March 21 – Festival of Music and Literature
- 3pm – Meeting and book signing with authors of Éditions du GREF – Myriam Fontaine, Vittorio Frigerio, Samia Khalifé, Christine Klein-Lataud, Pierre Léon, Léonard Rosmarin, Daniel Soha, Nathalie Stephens, Paul-François Sylvestre and Claude Tatilon (some authors to be confirmed). Location: BMO Conference Centre, Glendon Manor. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6774.
- 5pm – Opera Encounter: Excerpts from 19th-century operas inspired by French literature. Participation by members of the Glenn Gould School of Music. Event presented by Professor Emeritus Alain Baudot. Location: BMO Conference Centre, Glendon Manor. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6774.
- 6pm – Dinner concert with the Andrew Maynard Quartet. Location: 102 Glendon Manor. Tickets are $25/person, including taxes and wine. To reserve tickets, call 416-487-6824.
- 8pm – Theatre: Les quatre morts de Marie. Location: Glendon Theatre. Admission is $5 for students, $10 for adults. For tickets, call the Glendon Box Office at 416-487-6822.
Monday, March 23
- 4pm – Talk by Dan Brignoli, member of the Toronto Historical Society, titled “Works and Images – A Tour of Francophone Toronto”. Location: Frost Library, Glendon campus. Admission is free. For more information, call 416-487-6824.