RIYADH, 12 April 2005 — The Francophone community in the Kingdom celebrated Francophonie Week recently with great fanfare.
Instead of limiting celebrations to a single day as is the practice, the Francophone community decided to span its festivities for an entire week.
The Canadian Embassy in Riyadh kicked off the celebrations with a concert at the embassy grounds. “We planned the celebrations so that people living in Saudi Arabia get a sense of the Francophone community internationally. The Francophonie wants to tell the world that we have a vibrant Francophone community from Europe to the Middle East,” said Roderick Bell, the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
La Francophonie, which is an equivalent to the Commonwealth, is a community of people who in varying degrees speak or use French domestically or internationally. It is a platform where people from diverse cultures come together with one common thread binding them, which is the French language.
The Canadian Embassy invited Stef Paquette and his band to perform for a multicultural audience in Riyadh. “Due to its history, Canada is a member of both the Commonwealth and the Francophonie. We brought Stef and his band to Riyadh because they reflect a refreshing amalgamation of Anglophones from Ontario and native French speaking band members from Quebec which is what the Canadian society is about,” commented Ambassador Bell.
Stef and his band have journeyed the snowy length and breadth of Canada but this is the first international tour for them to the sunny terrains of the Middle East. Their first and only album so far, The Exponential Man, has been nominated for the Album of the Year and Song of the Year at the Francophone music awards in Ontario this year. They traveled to Cairo and Beirut as part of the Francophonie celebrations and Riyadh was the last stop on their itinerary.
Talking about their experiences of Beirut and Cairo, the band members agree that the Middle East is a whole new world for them. “When you are living in your own little box you just see what the media feeds you and the image of Middle East is presented as being totally opposite to what it actually is,” stresses Veronique Dault, the vocalist in the band. All the band members have been deeply impressed by the vibrant and distinctive cultures of each country and they agree that after meeting locals in Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia their misconceptions of this entire region have been totally shattered. “We can’t wait to go back to Canada and redress the ignorance about the Middle East,” adds Stef.
The concert in Riyadh was an acoustic minimalist show with Stef Paquette on the acoustic guitar and vocals, Christian Poirer on the lead guitar, Sebastien Grenier on the saxophone and Veronique Dault on the vocals. Though most of their songs were in French they had their audience tapping their feet throughout the performance.
“Our music is the traditional Francophone music which is very heavy on the lyrics. Each word is thought out very carefully, hence an entire song is pieced together,” says Veronique about the album. To people who have heard the album it seems like the songs are a commentary of life in Canada.
Stef Paquette and his band enthralled the audience of 400 people with their lilting tunes. The cool desert breeze coupled with culturally rich music had the audience glued to their chairs till midnight. The concert at the Canadian Embassy was a celebration of the French aspect of Canadian culture and a testament that the Francophonie culture is a very dynamic and significant part of Canada.
