Ta-Nehisi Coates Curates The 2016 Festival Albertine at The French Embassy in New York

No contributor

The Festival Albertine opens its doors this week in New York (November 2—6), taking place at the French Embassy’s acclaimed bookstore as it does every year. Organized by Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, and curated by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, this year’s Festival Albertine explores the changing nature and importance of identity in both the United States and France.

“In this time of crisis and growing extremism around the world, dialogue is more essential than ever. Festival Albertine reflects the French Embassy’s commitment to fostering intellectual and cultural exchange through conversation and debate,” said de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor. “We are very fortunate to have Ta-Nehisi Coates, a keen observer and major voice on issues raised by groups like Black Lives Matter in the U.S., as curator of this year’s festival. After spending a year in France, Mr. Coates returns with a fresh perspective on issues that he has investigated for years. He will examine questions of race, identity, and immigration from French and American perspectives in conversation with important artists and intellectuals from both sides of the Atlantic. The arts are a vehicle for dialogue rather division, and we hope that the festival will give rise to fruitful and inspiring discussion.”

Photo by Ian Douglas

Bringing a myriad of speakers together, Coates invited American and French artists, thinkers, and scholars to discuss and reflect on the meaning of identity, as well as to discuss the contemporary controversies linked to immigration and populism. Headliners include The Wire and Treme producer David Simon, New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem Thelma Golden, the Apollo Theater’s executive producer Kamilah Forbes, artist Kehinde Wiley, sociologist and anthropologist Nacira Guénif-Souilamas, dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, rapper and spoken word artist D’ de Kabal, writer Charles Robinson, historian Pap Ndiaye, and many more.