Newly Open French Institute Library Will Boost Cultural Collaboration With Nigeria -Official

Posted by Eric Ojo African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News, World News Tuesday, July 6th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The French Cultural Institute in Nigeria, also known as The Institut français du Nigéria has announced that its newly reopened library will serve as a hub to boost the institute’s cultural activities in Nigeria.

The refurbished library, which is christened Médiathèque was reopened penultimate Saturday, after one year of renovation work on the building and the acquisition of more than 200 new French books.

The Press Officer of French Embassy in Nigeria, Onyinye Madu disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. Madu said the renewed library is poised to boost the cultural programmes and engagements of the institute in Nigeria.

“The new Médiathèque aims to become a laboratory for innovation, cultural collaborations, and will be at the heart of this institution.

“It will welcome numerous art exhibitions, debates and performances. It is open to the students as well as members of the Institute, the youth, francophiles, and Nigerians”, she said.

She noted that aside from acquiring over 200 new books in French for its Mediathèque, including novels, documentaries, thrillers, science fiction, comic books, and albums, the institute also inaugurated a new exhibition entitled “At Home”.

This exhibition, according to her, was organized in partnership with the African Artists’ Foundation and was curated by Dr Oluwatoyin Sogbesan, in line with the Home Museum project.

She further disclosed that the Home Museum project was launched last year online during the lockdown, by Lagos Photo 2020, adding that all the photographs displayed at the premises of the institute during the reopening ceremony, are part of the Home Museum online collection.

“This is the first physical exhibition of that collection. Nigerian and French photographers are represented along with many more photographers from Europe and Africa. They have been selected without distinction, for their great work capturing objects of virtue in their home. This exhibition symbolizes cultural exchanges and unity across borders”, she stressed.