May 16th 2023: Film showing at the Embassy of France in Washington DC : Chartres! Light Reborn, on the restoration of the cathedral, with opening address by Aurélie Bonal Deputy head of Mission and Dominique. Introductions by Karine Boulanger, CNRS researcher and Anne Embs from DRAC. Karine and Dominique were joined by Madeline Caviness for the Q and A. The event was sold out and the evening closed out with a well attended reception.
From Maria Ferrara, consultant-volunteer for AFC
Many thanks for organizing the screening of Chartres: Light Reborn at the French Embassy on May 16. I arrived via Metro Access and the guards even allowed the paratransit bus to drive me up to the entrance because I spoke in French. I enjoyed seeing trustees at the entrance of the theatre greeting guests and handing out the program for the evening which was co-sponsored by the Rotary Club of DC as well as the 1818 Society of the World Bank. Everything went smoothly thanks to Claire-Noëlle Simon from AFC and Olivier Dypeyron from the Maison Française behind the scenes. Although we started a little late due to the fact that we sold over 300 tickets, Mrs. Aurélie Bonal, Minister-Deputy Ambassador offered inspiring welcoming remarks, and Dominique Lallement, AFC’s President gave an overview of AFC’s mission, past and future projects from 2005 when AFC was established. Ms. Anne Embs, Curator of the Historical Monuments from the Centre-Val de Loire Region, France, put the film in context and outlined the program of the Transept restoration. The challenges of restoration were addressed by Karine Boulanger, PhD in Art History,Research Engineer at CNRS-Centre Andre Chastel. The film Chartres: Light Reborn! was then shown in French with English subtitles. Later, Dominique Lallement moderated the Q&A session with Karine Boulanger and Madeline Caviness, Professor Emeritus of Medieval Art History from Tufts University, Boston, who answered numerous questions from the audience. To conclude the evening, participants shared in a lovely buffet reception put together by American Friends of Chartres’ volunteers. Hopefully we have over 300 newly educated fans of Chartres.
