India & France have diverse cultures, give importance to freedom of creation: French minister

The freedom of creation is "very important" in countries like France and India that have "diverse" and "evolving cultures", French Culture Minister Franck Riester told reporters on Tuesday.

Riester is currently on a state visit to India.

"France and India are very similar in terms of the relation they have with culture. It is an old culture, but also a culture that evolves, thanks to new people coming into the country and the exchanges they have. We are convinced that diversity is very important and the freedom of creation is very important," the minister said.

Riester, who was appointed the Minister for Culture in 2018, said the visit to India, his first, happened for him rather quickly because the French government wanted to "strengthen the relationship and friendship between India and France".

"We are two countries of culture... we are two old countries with two old cultures and both our cultures are diverse.

"It is very important to bring together people of our countries and enable them to know each other. So, I decided to come and meet many different people here," he said.

During the course of this visit, Riester met producers from the Indian film industry to promote France as a film shooting destination and to explore the future of joint ventures in the field.

He said he also met some students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai.

The minister added that he also witnessed the Republic Day parade on Sunday.

Earlier on Tuesday, he met a group of authors and publishers over lunch to discuss the importance of translations to promote French literature in India, and vice-versa.

"We are convinced that translations are very important to increase exchanges between France and India, and to facilitate the knowledge of our authors," he said.

The minister also talked about expanding residencies programmes, especially for younger artists, in the fields of both visual and performing arts.

"We have decided to strengthen our policies in artist residencies. Major artists can always have exhibitions, but we forget young artists. (Through residencies) French artists could spend time in India, and Indian artists in France. So, we have to increase the time and number of the residencies in painting and perhaps also in the sector of music.

"When an artist comes and stays in our country, he meets many of our artists and builds a network of artists for himself, and gets an opportunity to be seen by the public," Riester said.

The minister is scheduled to unveil a retrospective of renowned French artist Gerard Garouste later on Tuesday evening at the National Gallery of Modern Art here.

"Garouste is one the most popular living painters in France. It's important that a major painter could exhibit in India, like Indian artists have exhibitions in France," he said.

He also said that the Pompidou Centre in Paris is set to host a show of late Indian modernist painter Syed Haider Raza's work soon.

"We believe that we have to know each other's culture better, so that we can understand each other's countries better," Riester said.