Dedicated to the celebration and growth of South African arts and culture, the French Institute’s strong relationships with various partners encourages cultural diversity and exchanges between South Africa, France and the rest of the African continent. Our projects range from visual arts to animation, poetry to gaming, and fashion to music. Notable projects in the audiovisual and creative industries have developed long-term partnerships between our respective cultural sectors to exchange knowledge, experience and ideas.

Visual Arts

Unrecorded Voices: South African creatives explore archiving through AI innovation at Playtopia Festival

An exhibition of synthetic archives* crafted by 11 South African creatives titled Unrecorded Voices, offers...

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Literature

Discover Dibuka Library

Dibuka is a Francophone multimedia library which aims to promote the French language and French-speaking...

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Performing Arts

Live Music Lab: Equipping the next generation of music professionals

The Live Music Lab (LML) is a month-long training programme that aims to empower and...

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Film and Animation

The Kingdom in the Sky: Moshoeshoe’s Strategy and Legacy – A short film on the historical ties between Lesotho and France

As Lesotho celebrates 58 years of independence and 200 years since the founding of the...

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Creative Industries

Esports queens: Mzansi Esports Champions 2024 winners

African women esports players took centre stage at the Mzansi Esports Champions 2024, held during...

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Dibuka Francophone Library

Dibuka: A new chapter in 2025

After more than 20 years at the Alliance Française of Johannesburg, Dibuka is embarking on...

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Arts and Creative Industries

IFAS and South African partners launch IQOQO: A new interface to enhance Cultural Industries collaboration

During an official visit to South Africa by the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ms Catherine Colonna inaugurated the French Institute of South Africa’s (IFAS) revamped campus in […]

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Calls for Applications
Arts and Creative Industries

Call for applications: Live Music Lab Maseru

Are you a young artist passionate about launching your music career? Live Music Lab:...

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Arts and Creative Industries

ICC Immersion programme

Submit your innovative French entreprise to the ICC Immersion programme! The ICC Immersion programme...

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Arts and Creative Industries

La Fabrique Cinéma 2025

The call for applications for La Fabrique Cinéma 2025 is open! La Fabrique Cinéma...

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Friends of the French Institute

Friends of the French Institute of South Africa

In 2014, former French Ambassador Elisabeth Barbier created the Friends of the French Institute Committee to offer strategic advice to the French Institute of South Africa regarding mainly arts and culture, as well as creative industries and research. The committee meets quarterly with representatives from the French Embassy and the French Institute. Read more about the committee members here.
Key Partners

The French Institute has a range of successful partnerships with educational and research institutions, non-governmental organisations, governmental organisations, cultural organisations and esteemed multinational organisations. We are committed to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with partners who provide a vital mutual transfer of ideas and support to help us reach our shared cooperation goals between France, South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi. Partner with us today.

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The Occupying The Gallery / Occupying IFAS project, with an artist collective led by internationally acclaimed visual artists, Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemoana, transforms art galleries into mentoring spaces for a dozen young creatives, offering a platform where artistic creation and learning come together. Their two occupations of IFAS were joined by Mosa Anita Kaiser, Hoek Swaratlhe, Lungile Ngcobo, Sphatho Mzantsi, Bongani Ndlovu, Tatenda Maisa, and Mlondi Magubane. From 16 April to 16 May and 22 to 30 July 2024, the creative platform on the first floor of IFAS was transformed into an artists' residency, positioning the Institute as a veritable creative hub for emerging artists and responding to the desire to support mentoring and training activities – a key focus of Occupying’s transformational agenda. In the first phase, the artists worked over a month-long residency to collectively produce artworks and prints, in collaboration with Artist Proof Studios, which were later presented at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair in Johannesburg from 23 to 26 May 2024. Upon their return to IFAS for a 10-day residency led by French visual artist, Hugues Anhēs, and independent exhibition coordinator and curator, Camille Gajate, joining from Paris through the support of Institut français in Paris and IFAS, the occupants produced Fahla Fahla!. ‘Fahla Fahla!’ is a colloquialism of the act of putting together, a touch, touch here and there, in bits and pieces. A drop of something short and sweet: adding and subtracting when needed to make a whole.
For a closer look at the Création Africa journey, watch the testimonial video featuring the entrepreneurs in their own words. Hear firsthand how the programme has shaped their ventures, opened up international connections, and provided a platform to bring Southern African creativity to the global stage.
For a closer look at the Création Africa journey, watch the short testimonial video featuring the entrepreneurs in their own words. Hear firsthand how the programme has shaped their ventures, opened up international connections, and provided a platform to bring Southern African creativity to the global stage.
THEBE MAGUGU is a luxury fashion brand that offers ready-to-wear collections and explores parallel concepts through multidisciplinary capsule projects. The brand is rooted in education: informing the world about stories and crafts, with each collection named after a university subject. The goal is to purchase premises in Johannesburg that will be used as an incubation, workshop, library, events and café venue.
Terry Made Designs is a contemporary luxury clothing brand specialising in ready-to-wear and custom clothes, accessories, and professional styling services. The brand focuses on sustainability by repurposing second-hand clothes and pre-loved fabrics.
Tendalo Trading specialises in repurposing rubber tubes from cars, trucks, and tractors into eco-friendly, durable, waterproof, and ethically sourced bags. The focus is on recycling and upcycling to mitigate environmental pollution and align with Sustainable Development Goals.
SourceCode Motion Pictures specialises in innovative visual storytelling through 3D animation, VFX, and cutting-edge technologies like Unreal Engine. Services include film production, web series, TV shows, and ad campaigns.
Renaissance Design is a Pan-African multidisciplinary creative agency specialising in conceptualising and designing modern ancient African-inspired patterns. The business extends its services to interiors, fashion, product design, and custom design for corporate and hospitality brands. It aims to reflect ancient Africa in modern living.
Pineapple on Pizza Studios is a games and digital arts studio that focuses on game development and gamification projects. ‘Moya’ is the flagship project: a 2D narrative puzzle set in an apocalyptic African landscape.
Moodswing is the world's first platform that allows businesses and individuals to enhance their conversations with personalised AI-generated playlists of background instrumental music based on their mood. It is creating job opportunities for talented individuals who are passionate about music.
Building upon the foundation of the established streetwear brand, Butan, LSJ Clothing and Merchandising, is venturing into footwear design that incorporates recycled materials (particularly discarded rubber tyres).
Kwacha Creative Studios is a Malawi-based film production and distribution company. The business showcases the unique and diverse stories and brands of Malawi, producing feature films, TV series, documentaries, and creative advertising campaigns.
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