Night of Ideas 2022: Goncourt-Winner Leïla Slimani and Lenape Center Director Joe Baker Highlight Nocturnal Marathon of Public Debate, Programs, and Performances in 19 US Cities

March 15, 2022 – Villa Albertine today announced the 2022 Night of Ideas, its annual nocturnal marathon of philosophical debates, performances, readings and more, being mounted this May in an unprecedented 19 cities across the US. Developed and hosted in partnership with 50+ institutions, the nighttime gatherings will enable the public to engage with leading thinkers, scientists, novelists, activists, and artists around the theme Where Are We Going?. Featuring diverse and bespoke programs, Night of Ideas 2022 provides a community-wide exploration of myriad paths forward for a world in crisis: from local movements for climate action, to global perspectives on decolonization, to a reimagination of our democratic institutions, and much, much more.  

Night of Ideas is being presented in 100 countries worldwide, including the United States, coordinated by the Institut français and produced by Villa Albertine, a newly launched cultural institution dedicated to deepening relationships between French and American communities through a shared exchange of art and ideas. 

The national program in the US is made possible with major philanthropic support from the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York. 

Among this year’s 200+ artists, philosophers, researchers, performers, and more are Goncourt Prize-winning novelist Leïla Slimani, indigenous leaders Joe Baker and Sharaya Souza, researcher Yann LeCun, and Rama Yade – director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. The events will also feature creatives participating in the inaugural season (2021-22) of Villa Albertine’s artists’ residency program, in which 60 global artists, thinkers, and culture professionals are embedded across 10 US cities. Speakers include Chayma Drira, a journalist focusing on the impact of gentrification, Afro-Caribbean musician and composer Sélène Saint-Aimé, and Eloïse Bouton and D’de Kabal, authors and activists whose project is aimed at raising awareness of sexual violence and consent.  

Night of Ideas was first introduced to the US in 2015 by the French Embassy, and further developed through an ongoing partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library. Today, Night of Ideas is a nationwide phenomenon, drawing tens of thousands of people to events across the country.  Night of Ideas 2022 will take place in:

 

St. Louis – May 3rd  

Co-presenters: Alliance Française St. Louis and Webster University  

 

Houston – May 5th  

Co-presenters: Consulate of France in Monterrey (Mexico), IFAL – Instituto Francés de América Latina 

 

Boston – May 6th  

Co-presenters: Harvard University, Bunker Hill Community College, and International School of Boston  

 

York, PA – May 7th  

Co-presenter: York College of Pennsylvania 

 

Denver – May 9th 

Co-presenter: Alliance Française of Denver 

 

Los Angeles – May 9th   

 

Phoenix – May 9th 

Co-presenters: International School of Arizona, Alliance Française of Greater Phoenix, Arizona State University    

 

Tucson – May 9th 

Co-presenter: University of Arizona, iGLOBES 

 

Washington, D.C. – May 11th  

Co-presenter: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library 

 

Chicago – May 12th 

Co-presenters: Chicago History Museum, France Chicago Center at University of Chicago, Buffett Institute for Global Studies at Northwestern University, and Alliance Française Chicago 

 

Milwaukee – May 12th  

Co-presenter: Alliance Française Milwaukee 

 

Minneapolis – May 12th  

Co-presenter: Alliance Française Minneapolis 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico – May 12th 

Co-presenter: Alliance Française Puerto Rico 

 

Atlanta – May 14th 

Co-presenters: City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, The Woodruff Arts Center and Science Gallery at Emory University 

 

Norfolk, VA – May 14th  

Co-presenters: Slover Library and Old Dominion University 

 

San Francisco – May 17th  

Co-presenters: KQED, San Francisco Public Library, SFMOMA, and California Humanities 

 

New Orleans – May 18th  

Co-presenters: New Orleans Jazz Museum, Alliance Française of New Orleans and Consulate General of France in Louisiana  

 

Miami – May 19th 

Co-presenters:  FilmGate Miami, Letra Urbana, Books and Books, Center for Subtropical Affairs 

 

New York City – May 21st  

Co-presenters: Brooklyn Public Library, 1014, Czech Center, Romanian Cultural Institute, Consulate General of Estonia in New York, Polish Cultural Institute New York, Ukrainian Institute of America, Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations - New York and FIAF – French Institute Alliance Française   

 

“Night of Ideas is returning in-person on an unprecedented scale. This is a true testament to the urgency of our theme, and to the vibrant community that we have built with our partners over the past seven years,” said Gaëtan Bruel, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the US and Director of Villa Albertine, “Night of Ideas is also the first major public event of Villa Albertine. The diversity of this year’s presenters, partners, and geographies perfectly reflects our mission to strengthen international dialogue and engagement around the most pressing issues of our time.” 

Registrations will open in April. Mark your calendar for the Night of Ideas in May, and visit nightofideas.org for the latest news and programming announcements in your city.  

 

About Night of Ideas

Initiated in 2016 during an exceptional evening that brought together in Paris foremost French and international thinkers invited to discuss the major issues of our time, Night of Ideas has quickly become a fixture of the French and international agenda. Every year, on the last Thursday of January, the French Institute invites all cultural and educational institutions in France and on all five continents to celebrate the free flow of ideas and knowledge by offering, on the same evening, conferences, meetings, forums and round tables, as well as screenings, artistic performances and workshops, around a theme each one of them revisits in its own fashion. 

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