Cultural Festival of India launched in France

Namaste France, a 15-month long 'Festival of India' has been launched in Paris to spread awareness about Indian culture which include dance, music, literature and cinema.
 
The festival started yesterday with Aadi Nritya - a dance tableau presented by the Mallika Sarabhai and Darpana Academy troupe. It was held in the Musee du Quai Branly against the backdrop of exhibition of indigenous Indian arts - "The Other Masters of India" at the museum.
 
The festival will close with the exhibition of original paintings of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in the Museum of Modern Arts in July 2011.
 
Namaste France follows Bonjour India - the French cultural Festival held in India from November 2009 to February this year. The two festivals are being implemented under a Bilateral cultural Exchange Programme and the Declaration signed between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the Culture body of Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of France.
 
The ICCR and Embassy of India in Paris and Cultures France are the implementing agencies of the Festival. The festival in France will bring to people of France a comprehensive package of Indian culture including dance, music, literature, theatre, painting, sculpture and cinema.
 
It will also expose them to Indian cinema-based spectacles, gastronomy, fashion, yoga and Ayurveda, a variety reflecting the Indian ethos that is deep rooted in its traditions and at the same time continuously experimenting and adapting to modernity.