Engaged uninterruptedly since 1998 in a joint cooperation that has supported 650 Lyon and Greater Lyon cultural projects of international stature, the Institut français, the City and the Metropole have decided to pool their skills and resources once again for three years in order to strengthen their mutual commitment to the international appeal of the City and Metropole on the one hand, and the international openness of their cultural players on the other.

Two major areas of cooperation

The 2025-2027 agreement commits the three partners to two shared areas of work, with precise objectives.

1. Literatures, public reading and new writing

• Networking Lyon's players with the UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature, in liaison with the French cultural network abroad;
• Support for the internationalization of the region's literary festivals and debates on ideas (science fiction, thrillers, comics, poetry, illustration, press cartoons, etc.);
• Development of cooperation between the Lyon and Metropolitan area public reading network and international partners (training, exchanges of experience, sharing of tools);
• Support for "new writing" and emerging formats in the visual arts, cinema, literature, sound creation, digital or live performance, with particular attention to emerging teams, hybrid narratives and innovations in audience relations.

2. Humanities, hospitality and human rights

• Support for Lyon and greater Lyon players involved in welcoming and giving visibility to artists who are prevented from practicing their art;
• Hosting international artists with singular voices, committed to the defense of human rights, in order to encourage Lyon and its metropolis to open up to the world.

A call for projects for Lyon and Greater Lyon cultural players

As part of this agreement, an annual call for projects is also planned to support international initiatives in line with these themes and led by artistic and cultural teams, authors and artists based in Lyon and the Metropole. The projects selected will promote the creation and dissemination of local works on the international stage, while providing for return actions in several metropolitan communities.

All supported projects must pay particular attention to:

• the defense of human rights and democratic issues;
• gender equality;
• environmental issues (content and implementation methods);
• cultural rights.

The schedule will be announced to cultural players during the autumn.

For more information on the call for projects, cultural players can directly contact:

• Institut français : Justine Marcienne, chargé de mission Pôle Collectivités Territoriales - justine.marcienne@institutfrancais.com
• Ville de Lyon : conventionIF.ville@mairie-lyon.fr
• Métropole de Lyon : conventionif.metro@grandlyon.com

A signing in conjunction with the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon

This signing took place on the occasion of Focus Danse, organized from September 16 to 20 by the Biennale de la Danse, the Institut français, Onda and CCNR. Focus is a program designed to introduce foreign programmers to new trends in French contemporary creation for distribution worldwide. This 2025 edition brings together over 70 international programmers from 38 countries, identified and invited with the support of the French cooperation and cultural action network abroad.