You probably remember this scene of An American in Paris, the wonderful film of Vincente MINELLI carried by the music of GERSHWIN: Gene KELLY sings and dances in front of a group of French children and makes them repeat in choir «I got». This word of the children, which means "I understood", seems to me also to mean "I received" and, indeed, KELLY gives them, not only of her dance and her song, but of her communicative presence and joy of life.
I hope you will forgive me for thinking of this rather fanciful scene as I begin a much more serious and even solemn ceremony, though profoundly friendly. But you understand why it comes to mind: first, Un Américain à Paris; then a lover of the voice – of opera – and choreography – of ballet and dance in all its states; and finally, this gesture of gift, addressed to children, French in this case: This does not mean, of course, that the French are children or that you consider them as such! but – I will come back to this – young people occupy a very crucial place in your activity as patrons. In short, these were probably too many analogies for the inveterate cinephile I have kept in my minister’s clothes not to spontaneously make the connection suggested to me by the presence among us of a great American patron and a great friend of France.
At the head of the ANNENBERG Foundation, of which you are the Director and Vice President, you work in many fields of Culture, in the broad and, I would say, universal sense of the term: the arts, education, the well-being of those who need our help and support. Like a famous French humanist, but in a completely different sense, you could say, indeed, "Nothing human is foreign to me".
If you are interested in the arts in all its forms, it is primarily because you are, of course, an artist yourself, and you have the sensitivity, talent and intimate knowledge of the man of art. After training in painting at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York and the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts here in Paris, you have successfully exhibited in both countries that, already you have matched by cultivating their deep elective affinities. This is how you have supported, as Patron, memorable exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, dedicated in particular to artists from Los Angeles or, just recently, the «Années parisiennes de CALDER». Of course, I cannot make the “dizzying list” – as Umberto ECO would say right now at the Louvre – of all the support you give to our museums: I will mention, in addition to that of the association of American Friends of the same Louvre Museum, your decisive contribution to the creation of FRAME, which is much more than a “framework”, a large network of museums and a powerful lever of Franco-American exchanges, as well as your help – oh so symbolic – to the restoration of the statue “America” in Versailles, an additional aid that echoes the restoration of the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island, to which you have also made a decisive contribution.
In the intersecting worlds of Franco-American culture, you also have a predilection for the performing arts and in particular, as I said at the outset, for opera and dance. Within the association of the American Friends of the Paris Opera & Ballet which is part of your Foundation, and in connection with the AROP and the FEDORA network, you organize, more than a simple support, real exchanges and an authentic dialogue – I would say almost a duet or a no-two: they are American artists who come to Paris, tours of the Paris Opera and Ballet in the United States, or co-productions, in which Americans and French truly work “in concert”. I am thinking in particular of the admirable Tristan et Isolde magnified by the videos of Bill VIOLA and the direction of Peter SELLARS, recently given to the Paris Opera and then in the United States, which is a very beautiful present, a very beautiful gift.
Thanks to you and your Foundation, these exchanges continue a very old dialogue between American artists and French artists, whose relationship between George GERSHWIN and Maurice RAVEL is, as you know, quite emblematic.
You know, like Gene KELLY, making Paris dance: not only at the Paris Opera Ballet, but at the American Academy of Dance in Paris and at the Etés de la danse in Paris. This is, now, another film that also comes to mind: I am thinking of Woody ALLEN’s Everybody Says I Love You, a Franco-American choreography that is both delightful and so strongly symbolic!
But as I said, your action is not limited to the arts, art for art. A great humanist, you pay particular attention to education, whether it be, in particular, at the Centre d'art et de sciences at the Jeanine Manuel Bilingual Active School, at the American Bookshop in Paris, at the Memorial of the Shoah of course, or in the humanitarian field: I am thinking of your action in the so important field of access to water in Africa, in relation to CARE; but also in favour of Peruvian children, with Doctors of the World – indispensable associations of which I greet the presidents, who are present today.
As I said, I can only give an overview of your activities, which you carry out with the complicity of your wife, Mrs Regina ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN, whose presence here with you I also warmly welcome. But I would like to stress the special attention you pay to children, their education and development, to those children who sing in chorus "I got" in Un Américain in Paris. I am referring to the international website that you helped to create for them, at the Centre Pompidou, the educational space for young people that you set up at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, but also of course the educational project for disadvantaged young people, that you have just led to the Louvre Museum, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of National Education. Of course, I am not forgetting your collaboration with the association L'Envol pour les enfants européens, whose name itself evokes the ambitious action programme.
This patronage towards young people, and in particular towards those who are initially the furthest away from culture, is, as you know, in perfect harmony with my conception of the Culture that I like to call “social culture” or “culture for everyone”., that is to say, a culture rooted in the social reality of our country, without any exclusivity and, consequently, capable of taking into account all the diversity of society and the individuals who make it up, and knows how to open up to all the horizons which they bring.
In short, you manage to create a bridge of generosity between cultures, between generations, between our two countries, and more generally between men.
A Chinese proverb, I think, says, “The difficulty in this world is not raising a lot of money, but knowing how to spend it well.” I believe, dear Gregory ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN, that you know how to solve this «Chinese puzzle», and we are extremely grateful to you.
Thanks to your unparalleled generosity, thanks to your incomparable taste, we are rich with a most precious support. You offer us much more than money: the joy of sharing a high idea of culture and its role in society. On behalf of each and every Frenchman, I would like to express here my gratitude for this gesture of friendship that you are showing to your adopted country. You are a Great Patron, not only for art and artists, but for everyone who needs your support. You are never, if I dare this somewhat daring comparison, like the ant of the Fable of La Fontaine, and if you say like her, "You sang, I am very comfortable, Well dance now.", it is by giving – to the talents that are worth it – the means to sing and dance, in Paris, New York and elsewhere: everything, of course, on the music of Un américain in Paris…
As a token of appreciation, dear Gregory ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN, I have the great honour to present you with the Medal of Grand Patron and Grand Donor of Culture.
Discours
Address by Mr. Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communication, on the occasion of the presentation of the Grand Patron and Grand Donor of Culture Medal to Mr. Gregory ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN,
American patron, director and vice-president of the Annenberg Foundation. «An American in Paris, a great patron for everyone» Dear Gregory ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN,
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