Vera Michalski: “I sometimes dream in different languages”

Publisher and president of the Libella group, bringing together several publishing houses, including the excellent Noir sur Blanc editions, Vera Michalski works to promote the literature of Central Europe and other geographical areas, and greatly develops the possibilities of escape via the cultures of different countries that it allows you to discover through various activities. She speaks French, English, German, Spanish, Polish not perfectly, a little bit of Russian.

This goodwill ambassador to UNESCO and former president of the International Bureau of French Publishing created with Brigitte Bouchard the multidisciplinary festival “Un Week-end à l'Est” which honors each year in Paris a city ​​of central or eastern Europe through its writers, filmmakers, thinkers and artists.

After Warsaw, kyiv, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Odessa and Tbilisi, the eighth edition is dedicated to the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Armenian culture is therefore celebrated from November 20 to 30 through meetings, debates, exhibitions, concerts, shows and screenings. And under the aegis of two godfathers, the dancer and choreographer Rima Pipoyan and the musician André Manoukian. On this occasion, the revue Kometaa partner of the festival, publishes a special issue entitled “What if Armenia were the center of the world?”

Armenia in the spotlight

The guest explains that Armenia has been extremely tossed by history. This is also why the festival chose to invite the city of Yerevan, which has always suffered from the proximity of empires, and whose religion has been mistreated. Vera Michalski: “Often the most mistreated peoples give birth to extraordinary cultures. And here, we really wanted to shine a spotlight on this country and this city.” What would she like to import from Armenian culture to France? “A certain inventiveness, a tolerance, a spirit of adventure, there are many things to say. And of course, also, the reference to the past, the respect for the ancestors, things like that which forge the personality of the Armenians .”

She explains on Eva Bester's microphone, about young Armenians, that what is quite paradoxical is that even among them, we have the impression that the trauma of the genocide is still there. “Particularly among the artists we met there, with Alain Berland, there is a real desire for novelty, to break away from the stereotypes of communism, but the history in Armenia is very important. It’s a bit like in Poland , it could be said that religion was a glue for the Polish people and a basis of literature.”

At the “Un Week-end à l’Est” festival, there will be musicians, filmmakers, choreographers. André Manoukian and Rima Pipoyan are the godfathers. There will also be Élise Boghossian, Robert GuédiguianArmenian writer Susanna Harutyunyan and Istanbul-born feminist and peace activist sociologist Pinar Selek.

Excerpts broadcast

• The movie The Fire Horses (1965) directed by Sergei Parajanov
• The short film Our century (1982) directed by Artavazd Pelechian
• The documentary series Manouchian and the heroes of the Red Poster (2024) narrated by Xavier Lemarchand and produced by INA
• The sound of duduk, played by Artyom Minasyan during a concert given in 2020 with singer Laetitia Marcangeli
• The violinist Sergey Khachatryan and his pianist sister Lusine performing in 2020 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels Ludwig van Beethoven's sonata no. 5, known as “Spring” (1802)
• The title Everybody’s Talking (1967) by Fred Neil taken over in 1969 by Harry Nilsson
• String Quartet No. 8 in E minor called “Razumovsky” (1807) by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed by the Julliard String Quartet in a recording from the 1960s
• Polish intellectual and officer Józef Czapski in 1952 during the hearing of witnesses to the Katyń massacre (1940) before the American Commission of Inquiry (INA)
• The satirical writer and cartoonist Sławomir Mrożek speaking to Michel Polac in 1971 (RTF/ORTF)

Guest's choice of music
Vera Michalski chose to make us listen, in memory of her Viennese mother, to the song Phone book polka by Georg Kreisler (1922-2011). Citing all the names in the directory that begin with the letter V, this title “refers to the multi-ethnic character of Vienna”.

Discovery of the guest
Vera Michalski introduces us to the book Disheveled thoughts (2000) bringing together aphorisms by the Polish poet Stanisław Jerzy Lec and illustrations by Roland Topor.

Musical programming
Leon Bridges – Peaceful Place
Zaho de Sagazan – O through