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have been in charge of cultural events and festivals in France and Europe. So what does your job actually involve? I provide day to day operational management for the Institut français’ activities, liaising with a team of 8 people plus a dozen of teachers. The institute exists to promote artistic exchanges and dissemination of the French language, books and knowledge in Scotland.
As I can rely on a strong academic department which has enhanced by far the quality of the courses we provide, I am able to focus on cultural programmes in association with Scottish partners. The strategy we run in Scotland in coordination with our colleagues in London is designed and guided by the Institut français in Paris, which is the new agency for the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs with responsibility for cultural activity outside France. Best / worst aspects? Obviously the worst aspect is not being able to extend our action across Scotland as much I would like to. Thanks to the Alliance française in Glasgow there is a strong French presence over there, but I sometimes feel ashamed of not being able to follow up projects from other parts of the country. But our Education Officer does her very best to liaise with schools everywhere and I try to support and attend events in remote places such as the Orkney Islands, where I am going early February for the Papay Gyro Nights Art Festival. Best aspect? Well, being a
Frenchman I would say just being in Scotland – maybe not for the weather but for the strong feeling you’ve got here that the Auld Alliance is still alive and kicking! Looking back, what advice would you give to a young Vincent at the start of his career? I am tempted to say, ‘Work hard but never skip lunchtime’. More seriously I would say, ‘If you think you’re talented, do not forget people around you are very likely to be talented too’. So trust people you’re working with: learn, collaborate and delegate depending on your level in the management scheme.
And finally . . . what are you most looking forward to in 2012? I would say the second run of our food and drink exchanges between Scotland and France. It was an incredibly productive and enjoyable moment last year with the budding French chefs working together with Scottish chefs and producers in Edinburgh in May, and then in France last October. I can’t wait to have them back end of next March for a series of public events that’ll be just as exciting as anything on the Scottish food scene nowadays. What else? Well almost all our 2012 programme: the ‘La Tête et les Jambes’ series running from February to June; the French participation in the Edinburgh Festivals, including Fringe shows in our theatre; the French Film Festival’s 20th anniversary; the re-opening of our ‘bistrot’ in the next few weeks; and all the education events which contribute on a daily basis to raise the next generation of Auld Alliance supporters.
2 Feb–1 Mar 2012 THE LIST 125
Name: Name Vincent Guérin Job title Director
Company Institut français d’Ecosse
When did you start your job? I took over the job in September 2011 after having been posted in Libya for 3 years at the Institut français in Tripoli. Previously I