The Night Of Ideas 2021 - To Feel "Close(r)"

The sixth edition of the Night of Ideas, coordinated by the Institut Français, will be held on Thursday, 28 January, 2021 on the topic “Close(r).” It will be conducted digitally with the creation of “24 hours of ideas.”

More than 200 Nights of Ideas are expected internationally, from Finland to South Africa and from Fiji to Peru, with increased resonance between countries and geographical areas. In Sydney as well as in Mexico City, Seoul, Beirut, Lomé or Toronto, it is essentially local voices that will come to explore the “Close(r) ” theme.

The 2021 edition will take on special significance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme “Close(r)” was chosen to question the transformation of people’s relationships to space and mobility, the new forms of solidarity that the crisis in economic and social models calls for, and the place of digital technology in our societies, which is increasingly shaping people’s relationship with the world. “Close(r)” also invites people to question the evolution of contemporary sociality and, more than ever, our relationship to each other.

Live from across the world

While the health crisis is limiting gatherings and people’s mobility, the Institut Français (the French Institute) offers everyone the opportunity to live an unprecedented experience, 24 hours of Night and Ideas, on Facebook, YouTube, and on https://www.lanuitdesidees.com/en/.

Thanks to the richness and diversity of the French cultural network in the world, this event will cross time zones from Oceania to the West Coast of the United States, promote the free circulation of ideas and knowledge and bring local experiences to life in a great global live event.

Thus, for 24 hours, the upcoming Night of Ideas will be an opportunity to feel “closer” than ever, to strengthen global connections, to interact with other audiences and to celebrate a thinking without borders.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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