A slice of France in the UAE

Dubai - 25,000-strong French community in country is very active in social, cultural scene.

What was once a small community of French expats who called the UAE home has swelled to a large, lively group of over 25,000. The community has become very active in the country's social and cultural scene.
The heart of French cultural exchange efforts in the UAE sits on a quiet street in Oud Metha at the main office of the Dubai branch of the Alliance Francaise (AF), a French organisation designed to promote the country's language and culture abroad.
French diplomat Paul Cambon and geographer Pierre Foncin founded the first Alliance Francaise in Paris in 1883. Among its other original members were science fiction novelist Jules Verne and Suez Canal developer Ferdinand de Lesseps.
The Dubai branch - which was founded in 1983 - now teaches French to over 2,500 students a year, and holds dozens of social and cultural events every year in an effort to improve understanding of Francophone culture among UAE residents and foster UAE-French relations.
The AF in Abu Dhabi is even older, having begun operations in 1974, just three years after the UAE's independence. A third branch, AF-Al Ain, was founded in 2008.
In an interview, the AF-Dubai's director, Bernardo Frontero - who previously has worked at AF centres in Spain and Mexico - said his mission is to nurture the cultural relationship between the UAE and France.
"Like all over the world, the Alliance Francaise is here to develop the links between the host country and France, and the Francophone countries," he said. "At the educational level, we help schools ... develop French language programming, as well as give courses here in French and Arabic ourselves.
"There is an interest here for the Francophone world. Of course, the British are very present because of history, but also many nearby countries have many people who speak French," he added. "There are also many companies here who are linked with these countries. When you work with Lebanon or North or Central Africa, it's better if you speak French."
Ossama Al Shammaa, AF-Dubai's director of events, marketing and communication, said Dubai's melting pot of cultures means that the work of the AF in the emirate is unlike what it does in the other 136 countries in which it operates.
"Our objective is to create links between the different communities that live in Dubai. This is very special in Dubai, and not the case elsewhere," he said. "In Dubai, you have lots of different communities, and while our main objective is to promote French language, because of this diversity, we must try (to) create cultural exchange between them."
Green programmes
Over the course of 2015, the AF has conducted a number of environmentally-focused programmes ahead of the Climate Change Conference scheduled to begin in Paris on November 30. In September, for example, the AF will host an exhibition of Arctic photographs taken by photojournalist Nicolas Mingasson as well as a conference by Christian de Perthuis, head of the Climates Economic Chair of Dauphine University in Paris.
"We want to link our cultural aspects with international news, and this is a very important meeting," Frontero said. "Our governments have to take very tough decisions to limit climate change. The Emirates are doing a lot of things in ecology, so I thought it would be natural to do something about this every month. We've had a lot of success.
"French companies are working with us, and the Emiratis are very interested and are also participating."
Frontero added that next year, he hoped the AF can arrange a series of events concerning the role of women in society to coincide with the Women's Forum Dubai scheduled to be held in February.
"I'd love to do something about women in science, because in the Emirates, women are very involved in science and medicine, so organising an encounter between Europe - particularly France - and Emirati ladies would be good," he said. "We are working on that, with the help of Unesco."
In the past, Frontero said the AF has already worked with local authorities to help organise special visitors to other events including the Dubai Film Festival, the Dubai Literature Festival and the Dubai Jazz Festival.
"We'll have a stronger agenda on music by the end of the year," he noted. "We are going to invite some French and African artists who are involved in jazz and soul music. One every month from October.
"Dubai will continue to grow and grow, and we are following what Dubai is doing," he added. "If anybody wants something from French or Francophone culture, they can count on us. This isn't about presenting French things for French people. We welcome children and adults, to feel at ease here; even if you only want to read a newspaper from the Francophone world, you can come here."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com