A look back at Paris under lockdown
Nearly a week after France began easing its Covid-19 lockdown, we're back online in the Sound Kitchen! This week, the answer to the quiz question looking back at Paris's ban on outdoor activity during...
View ArticleSmall museums kick-start Paris' post-lockdown cultural season
Smaller museums in France have been authorised to open in the early stages of the lifting of the Covid-19 lockdown. One of them is the Giacometti Foundation in Paris, which reopened Friday with an...
View ArticleDjibouti's Groupe RTD make international 'Dancing Devils' album debut
Djibouti is better known as a strategic outpost than a hotbed of music but Groupe RTD, the country's national radio band, are one of its best kept secrets. By day they play at official ceremonies, off...
View ArticleDrive-ins make a comeback in France but are upsetting traditional cinemas
While public venues are still closed in France until July at least due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Drive-in Festival kicked off on Saturday in Bordeaux for ten days.
View ArticleFrench art-house actor Michel Piccoli dies aged 94
French actor Michel Piccoli, who worked with arthouse film directors such as Luis Bunuel, Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle, has died from a stroke aged 94, according to his family on Monday. His long...
View ArticleFrance's Molière theatre awards get prime time TV spot to counter Covid-19...
The award ceremony for the 32nd annual Molières awards, the French theatre equivalent of the cinema industry's 'Cesar', will be presented for the first time on prime time television in June.
View ArticleFrench music scene pays homage to bluesman Lucky Peterson who died on Sunday
Radios across France, including RFI, will pay tribute with special programmes this week to the American blues legend Lucky Peterson who died suddenly from a stroke at the age of 55 on Sunday.
View ArticleChadian band Pulo NDJ creates sounds out of its Lomé lockdown
When N'Djamena-based electro band Pulo NDJ found themselves stranded in Abuja with no chance of returning to Chad because of the coronavirus, they made their way to Lomé, set up a home studio and...
View ArticleRecord turnout for South Korea’s parliamentary polls, despite Covid-19
This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear the answer to the question about the parliamentary polls in South Korea. There’s wonderful news too, about the winner of RFI’s Planète Radio ePOP video...
View ArticleParis Philharmonic stages classical concerts with no public, the first since...
In a bid to get the live arts scene back on its feet after a long confinement due to the coronavirus crisis, the Philharmonie de Paris auditorium is putting on two classical music concerts, which will...
View ArticleKanak Emmanuel Kasarhérou to head Paris' Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum
New Caledonia-born Emmanuel Kasarhérou is the first Kanak to head the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, the first major French national museum to be run by a Kanak.
View ArticleFrench comedian and icon of the 'couscous left-wing' Guy Bedos dies, aged 85
Comedian and actor Guy Bedos died at the age of 85 on Thursday, y his son Nicolas said on social networks.
View ArticleParis' iconic Louvre museum to open in July as lockdown easing continues
The Louvre in Paris will reopen on July 6, according to a statement from the museum as France’s historical and cultural sites emerge gradually from the coronavirus lockdown.
View ArticleCovid-19 vaccine testing in Germany
This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear the answer to the question about the German biotech company and their Covid-19 vaccine. There’s a mini-history lesson on Joan of Arc, “Ollia’s Happy...
View ArticleTouki: how West Africa's kora found kindred spirit in the banjo
When musicians Amadou Diagne and Cory Seznec had a chance encounter in a bar in Bath in 2007, they knew one day they would record together. Thirteen years later, after many "touki" (journeys), they've...
View ArticleChristo, artist who wrapped the Reichstag, dies aged 84
Christo, the artist who made his name wrapping monuments in cloth, has died at the age of 84. Along with wife Jeanne-Claude, he formed one of the highest-profile couples in contemporary art.
View ArticleLights, camera, action: film sets in Paris get back to business
As France progressively eases lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, one of the sectors keen to get back to business is film and television. To keep in line with new hygiene measures...
View ArticleCannes Film Festival buzz goes online with official 2020 selection
Cannes Film Festival organisers have announced the 56 films in the official 2020 selection. Despite missing the excitement of the event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new line-up of feature-length...
View ArticleChateau de Versailles to re-open after Covid-19 closure, minus foreign tourists
One of France's star tourist attractions, the Chateau de Versailles is to re-open the gates to the public for the first time in over 80 days. Closed for the first time since World War II, the lockdown...
View ArticleU-S Remdesivir drug trial
This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear the answer to the question about the U-S’ Covid-19 medication, Remdesivir. There’s an update on confinement measures in France, “Ollia’s Happy Moment”,...
View Article