Finding France in Canberra: 75 years on
Posted on
Could you name Canberra’s oldest multicultural community organisation?
Hint: It’s a French language and culture association, and it’s turning 75 this year.
It’s often thought that Canberra is a young place with a short history. But the Alliance Française de Canberra has been around for three-quarters of a century with a fascinating history to tell.
It all started out in the living room of an early Canberra cottage in Forrest in 1943 right in the middle of World War II. A handful of people, led by local George Vincent, came together to discuss the potential of starting up in Canberra an Alliance Française—a French language and culture community group.
A year later, the organisation was officially formed at the fledging YWCA office in Civic. Starting out with 10 people in 1944, the Alliance Française de Canberra today has around 1,000 members making it Canberra’s oldest on-going community organisation celebrating cultures from around the world.
“We didn’t really understand what dad was up to,” says Anne McIntyre, George Vincent’s daughter. “We just thought he had lots of meetings with his ‘French friends.’ I had no idea until now that he had actually founded the Alliance Française!”
George hadn’t even been to France at that stage—his war service had been in North Africa—but he’d done a few French classes in his native state of Western Australia before coming to Canberra to work in the Customs Department. George’s children can only guess at what inspired their father’s love of France. But it’s left a 75-year-old legacy here in Canberra.
The Alliance Française started out meeting monthly in various locations around town including the YWCA in Civic, the long-ago defunct Blue Moon Café near the bus interchange and then in the Hayden Allan Tank at the ANU. There were lectures, debates, films and slide nights—all conducted in French. In 1953, the Alliance Française started teaching French to its members, and then more broadly to the public in 1966 when it joined the Griffin Community Centre in Civic.
The Alliance Française may well have stayed as a small-scale community group hanging out in the Griffin Centre if it were not for the arrival on the scene of the fabulously named Albert Salon. Albert was the new Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy in the early 1970s and he had a big dream—a bilingual French-English school for Canberra. So, he proposed that the French government fund the construction of a building to house both the school and the Alliance Française.
In 1973, plans were drawn up for the building by Leith & Bartlett Architects – a Melbourne firm that designed many buildings for the National Capital Development Commission. Various names were proposed, including “La Perouse House,” but ultimately the simple name of “Maison de France” (France House) won out and the building was officially opened by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1974.
The Maison de France has seen a colourful diversity of activities over its 45 years. Its classrooms have thronged with students of all ages, puzzling over French conjugations and the mouth-bending complexities of pronunciation.
The big central hall has hosted events of all kinds from Friday jazz nights and French region-themed dinners, to scientific discussions and art exhibitions, and more recently live broadcastings of the Tour de France and the Rugby World Cup.
On Saturday 26 October, the hall will fill again with party-goers celebrating the Alliance Française’s 75 years at a ‘Formed in the ‘40s’ party that is open to all Canberrans.
The Alliance Française has always held in its heart a special place for children – we all know that language-learning is easiest done by kids—and is organising a special 75th celebration party for them too: a Family Fun French Film Party for all children and their families at Palace Electric on Sunday afternoon 27 October.
But amongst the fun and celebrations, there have also been moments of drama and challenge. The French nuclear tests in the South Pacific in the mid-1990s outraged many Australians. The Alliance Française even received bomb threats. The Charlie Hebdo attack in 2016 was another challenging time at the Alliance Française, where almost all the staff and teachers are French nationals. They were deeply touched by the outpouring of support they received when Canberrans dropped by to place flowers outside the Maison de France.
Today the Alliance Française is a place where you can find a bit of France in Canberra—or a hint of one of the other 27 counties whose official language is French. It’s a valuable inter-cultural space where you can encounter a different view of the world at a time when we need to understand each other’s cultures and beliefs more than ever.
As it looks to the future, the Alliance Française de Canberra is planning to ready its building for the next 75 years with a renovation on the cards for 2020. If you would like to support Canberra’s oldest multicultural association in continuing its mission, you can buy a ticket to its annual gala raffle. A trip for two to Paris is in the offing! And if you win, perhaps you just might drop by the Alliance Française to pick up a bit of French for your dream trip.
the essentials
What: The Alliance Française de Canberra 75th birthday party: ‘Formed in the 40s’
When: Saturday 26 October from 6.45 pm
Where: The Alliance Française de Canberra, 66 McCaughey Street, Turner
Cost: $75 for non-members, $63.75 for AF members
More information: afcanberra.com.au
This editorial was created in partnership with the Alliance Française de Canberra. For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.