La Nuit des Idées 2019
A night of scientific and cultural discourse in 70 countries on 5 continents
January 23rd, 2019
On January 31, 2019, the fourth Nuit des Idées “night of the ideas” takes place. Organized by Institut Français and Fondation de France, for this event, experts, scientists and artists will come together in 70 countries on 5 continents to discussions and performances around this year’s theme “Facing our time”.
At the press conference on January 8, 2019, Secretary of State Jean-Yves Le Drian, Pierre Buhler, President of the Institut français, Pierre Sellal, President of the Fondation de France, and anthropologist Philippe Descola presented the program of the Fourth Night of Ideas. The events revolve among other things around the following contents:
- Global warming and species extinction
- social upheaval in connection with artificial intelligence or biotechnology
- increasing injustice and thinking about a new social contract
The goal of this unique night is to bring together people of diverse backgrounds - researchers, artists, government leaders and NGOs - to bring down the barriers that make exchanges of ideas all too often a matter for professionals. In Germany, the Institut français Berlin is participating in the program with a screening of the film "Farewell Comrades", in memory of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which marks its 30th anniversary this year.
The Night of Ideas aims to celebrate the stream of ideas between countries, cultures, topics and generations. It presents the opportunity to discover the latest discoveries in knowledge and arts, to listen to the ones who contribute to bring more ideas to their field, and to take part in the discussion about the main issues of our times. And since ideas know no frontier, projects of any type are welcomed (conference, theatre play, performance, screening, concerts, etc.), and all places - whether prestigious or unexpected - are called to join the party and host original projects reflecting their own interpretation of the suggested theme.
The French G7 presidency in 2019 formulated the foreign policy goal of strengthening the network of countries and interlocutors working for multilateralism. Secretary of State Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "There is no greater challenge on a planet that we need to share than building a world that is equal to us all, and where every country has the same dignity. This is in our interest and above all the task of our cultural network and the Institut français, the heart of French diplomacy. "The theme of the theme day is the near future, whose challenges must be tackled today.
