The French Institute's work is centred around developing South African creative ecosystems, talent, start-ups, and the creators of innovative content in partnership with French expertise and French key creative industry players. Our priorities are audiovisual content (animation), digital creation (video games, virtual reality, new formats), music, heritage, archives, museums and fashion.

Arts and Creative Industries

True Fashion, Try on Green

Emerging South African Designers Trailblaze Their Way to a Sustainable Future. The French Institute of South Africa and the Goethe-Institut South Africa have joined forces to champion five emerging designers […]

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Arts and Creative Industries

IFAS x FNB Art Joburg presents CONSTRUCT

The French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and FNB Art Joburg are delighted to present CONSTRUCT: five women artists working in Joburg across non-traditional mediums, a video series in five parts.  […]

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Arts and Creative Industries

The Futures_Past website is now live!

A new website dedicated to Futures_Past: Amplifying Memory with Immersive Technologies...

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Arts and Creative Industries

When archives speak: Immersive exhibitions to bring Southern African histories to life

What happens when archives are no longer silent, static, or locked...

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Arts and Creative Industries

Listening differently: Dennis Imaan reflects on the Louis-LumiĂšre residency

Malawian podcast producer and sound storyteller Dennis Imaan recently completed the...

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Arts and Creative Industries

Discover Acts of Care, the exhibition that reactivates a history of community care

Acts of Care, one of six immersive works developed through Futures_Past: Amplifying...

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Meet the CrĂ©ation Africa Top 15 entrepreneurs! Over the past few months, they have been taking part in a business incubation journey facilitated by UVU Africa and its digital skills and innovation division, CAPACITI.👏✹ #CreationAfrica2 #FrenchInstituteSA
Join leading scholars on the enduring legacy of Frantz Fanon and the continuing relevance of his ideas on colonialism, race, liberation and decolonisation in today's world.
On 29 March 2026, FĂȘte de la Musique was presented in Cape Town for the first time, as part of Bree Street Sundays. Organised by the French Embassy and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), the event brought free live music into the public space, transforming Bree Street into an open-air platform for performance and exchange. FĂȘte de la Musique Cape Town was implemented, supported and funded in partnership with Bassline, TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa, the Alliance Française of Cape Town, Young Urbanists through Street Experiment SA, Bridges for Music, the City of Cape Town, Mission for Inner City Cape Town and Jazz in the City.
Jean Spiri, directeur de l'IFAS, s'entretient avec Georges Lory et Daphnée Breytenbach à l'occasion de leur tournée littéraire en Afrique du Sud. Pour plus d'informations sur les événements publics, veuillez consulter le site web de l'IFAS: https://frenchinstitute.org.za/arts-and-creative-industries/literature/french-south-african-literature-conversations-tour-daphnee-breytenbach-georges-lory/.
The Création Africa Top 50 is a true reflection of the depth and diversity of the cultural and creative industries! #CreationAfrica2 #FrenchInstituteSA
🎉 Meet the selected Top 50 entrepreneurs for the second edition of CrĂ©ation Africa, from South Africa. Lesotho and Malawi 🎉 Congratulations as they begin a seven-week mentorship journey with UVU Africa and its digital skills and innovation division CAPACITI. 👏
A conversation exploring the impact of the 2025 funding cuts for the HIV response, especially for at risk and LGBTQIA+ communities. The panel will consist of leading experts in the field, both within health research and operating directly on the ground with affected groups.
As part of the French Institute of South Africa’s (IFAS) 30th anniversary, this film turns to Lesotho to spotlight artists and cultural practitioners involved in co-creation initiatives supported by IFAS. Shot across the Mountain Kingdom, it features voices that have helped define the Institute’s work over the past three decades. Directed by Adam Heyns.
As part of the French Institute of South Africa’s (IFAS) 30th anniversary, a visit to Malawi captured the stories of artists and cultural practitioners involved in co-creation projects supported by IFAS. From Lilongwe to Blantyre, the film brings together voices that have contributed to the Institute’s work over the past three decades. Directed by Adam Heyns.
Join us for a special talk by Justice Edwin Cameron and Sohela Surajpal, two of the authors of the new book 'Behind Prison Walls'. Their talk will bring together Michel Foucault's reflections on the systems of discipline and South Africa's experience of incarceration, offering an original analysis: how prisons, far from serving as tools of rehabilitation, become instruments of social control and the perpetuation of inequality.
Launched in 2022 under the France 2030 initiative, the ICC Immersion programme supports French entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries (CCI) as they expand into global markets. Implemented in South Africa by Institut français in Paris, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), Business France, and Business France South Africa and Southern Africa, the initiative connects French companies with key players in South Africa’s dynamic creative sector. This year’s cohort featured nine innovative CCI companies—Allegria, Atrack (Beam for Music), Agence Culturelle PLUS (Reunion Island), Culturespaces, Fabrik & Moi (Reunion Island), France MusĂ©ums DĂ©veloppement, Jakob + MacFarlane, Memorist, and Sound Birth—representing fields from architecture and immersive technology to museum development, cultural consultancy, and music innovation. Altogether, the South African edition fostered meaningful exchange between French and South African cultural leaders, opening the door to future collaborations across the two countries.  Special thank you to the featured sites: Constitution Hill Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation Spier Wine Farm, TRACE Studios Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct Wesgro Wits Digital Dome Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa ----- ICC Immersion is coordinated by the SecrĂ©tariat GĂ©nĂ©ral pour l'Investissement (SGPI) and driven by the Institut Français and Business France, with support from the Banque des territoires, the French Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. The 2025 edition is implemented by IFAS and Business France in Johannesburg.
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