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Analysis of French-American news • French cultural events in the United States • Interviews with leading intellectuals • Fashion tips • Traditional and contemporary recipes • Reports from across the United States • Authors’ perspectives on America • Portraits of artists, entrepreneurs, and other French-American personalities • The best of Francophone literature translated into English • French movies and series in theaters and online • French habits and linguistic subtleties • Unique places to visit in France • And so much more…
June 2021
The Art & Culture Issue
Great news for you, Francophiles: The Louvre just reopened to the public, and France is reopening to American and Canadian visitors on June 9. Until you’re able to fly to la Ville Lumière, we’re taking you behind the scenes at the most visited museum in the world, where Instagram curators, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and a certain Netflix gentleman burglar all interact under the glass pyramid! Also in this issue, don’t miss our features on French interior designer Robert Couturier, who has been turning heads in America for the last 40 years, and tech whiz Aurélie Jean, who travels between France and America to make algorithms look cool.
Featured Articles
IDEAS
KAHINA BAHLOUL
“Nothing in the Quran Forbids a Woman from Becoming an Imam”
Kahina Bahloul was born in 1979. Her mother is French and her father is a Muslim Berber from the Kabyle region of Algeria. She decided to move to Paris at the age of twenty, and after studying Islamology, she became France’s first female imam. She has just published Mon islam, ma liberté, a work whose title reflects both the author and her stance.
By Guy Sorman
LIFESTYLE
ARCHITECTURE
A Time of Restoration
Recently awarded to Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, a French duo who promote “restorative architecture” and refuse to accept the current demolition frenzy, the Pritzker Architecture Prize has used its 2021 edition to celebrate sustainable development and eco-friendly initiatives.
LIFESTYLE
ROBERT COUTURIER
Philosophy in the Living Room
Just as anyone would immediately recognize
a cantata by Bach – one of our subject’s favorite musicians – it is easy to notice the tone and diction of the finest French families in Robert Couturier’s voice – despite the fact he has lived and worked in the United States for the last forty years. But aside from his extreme courtesy, what exactly makes this man so French? And why, at the age of 26, did he decide to leave his home city of Paris? We sat down with this sophisticated monsieur who blends a respect for tradition with a unique reinvention of the present, while constantly looking to the future.
By Jérôme Kagan
BON APPETIT
JIM HARRISON
Writing to Whet the Appetite
While in high school in Michigan, Jim Harrison dreamed of being friends with Rabelais. But Gargantua is who actually comes to mind when thinking of the American writer, whose classic Legends of the Fall was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. A lover of French cuisine, an insatiable gourmand, and an almost religiously fervent drinker, he excused himself from the dinner table in 2016 at the age of 78. He left behind two delicious collections of articles on the art of eating with gusto without looking like “a pathetic piggy.”
Table of contents
NEWS
Revolt or Revolution? France Abolishes Its Civil-Service College. By Anthony Bulger
COME ON OUT
French Cultural Events in North America. By Tracy Kendrick
IDEAS
Editorial: To Be, or Not to Be, Woke. By Guy Sorman
Kahina Bahloul: “Nothing in the Quran Forbids a Woman from Becoming an Imam.” By Guy Sorman
Why Asterix Has Failed to Conquer America. By Anthony Bulger
ENTREPRENEUR
Aurélie Jean: Taking the Code Less Traveled. By Benoît Georges
FASHION
The Gentleman’s Style: Summertime Chic. By Julien Scavini
LIFESTYLE
Architecture: A Time of Restoration. By Jean-Gabriel Fredet
Robert Couturier: Philosophy in the Living Room. By Jérôme Kagan
BON APPETIT
Jim Harrison: Writing to Whet the Appetite. By Clément Thiery
CULTURE
Who’s Hiding behind the Louvre’s Social Media Accounts? By Gabriel Bertrand
A Canvas, an Artist: Yves Tanguy, The New Nomads. By Tracy Kendrick
Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam: Utopian Transformations. By Sophie Joubert
Art Brut: Inside the Minds of Outsider Photographers. By Jonas Cuénin
UNKNOWN FRANCE
The Franco-American Museum at Blérancourt: A Tribute to the Friendship between Our Two Nations. By Dominique Mataillet
© American Folk Art Museum
