To keep France synonymous with high fashion, Le French May Arts Festival is bringing in more than 300 pieces of clothing and accessories. The exquisite exhibits are set to be one of the festival's highlights when they are shown at the Heritage Museum in Sha Tin between May 30 and September 28. Drawn from Victoria and Albert Museum, the world's largest museum of decorative arts in London, the exhibits for "The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957" offer insights into the creative, social and commercial aspects of the industry.
Highlighting the works of fashion legends such as Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga and Pierre Balmain in Paris and their London counterparts, it traces one of the most glamorous periods in the industry's history through garments made for high society and royalty as well as fashion photographs.
Beside exhibitions, the arts festival, an annual must for Francophiles since 1992, has prepared an array of other programs to show off the country's rich versatility.
The Broadway Cinematheque in Yau Ma Tei will be screening movies by the late filmmaker Jacques Tati from May 6 to 27.
The French director is often associated with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Tati liked to find humor in mundane everyday life rather than larger-than-life events. His lovable persona Monsieur Hulot, who appears in many of his films, makes subtle comments on technology and consumerism. The selected films include Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953
), Playtime (1967) and the Oscar- winning film Mon Oncle (1958).For a more contemporary presentation, French artists will cooperate with acrobats from Dalian for a performance that merges modern dance and circus techniques.
Choreographer Aurelien Bory's latest work, Les Sept Planches de la Ruse, or The Seven Boards of Skill, is inspired by the tangram, an ancient Chinese geometric puzzle composed of seven tiles. The big tiles on stage can be manipulated into abstract backdrops, like mountains and cities. The show will be shown at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre on May 15 to 16.
Meanwhile, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong will be collaborating with glass harmonica player, Thomas Bloch, on May 26 at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre will be staging a new adaptation of the classic farce by Georges Feydeau, A Flea In Her Ear, from May 9 to 24 at Hong Kong City Hall Theatre.
For more information, visit http:/ /www.frenchmay.com
