The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s foremost French cultural center, continued its World Nomads Lebanon literary series with acclaimed actor, director, writer, and nomad, Wajdi Mouawad. Who, on May 21st, was joined by the iconic French actress and singer Jane Birkin for a special reading at Florence Gould Hall (55 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues) at 7pm. It was Birkin’s second appearance at FIAF; this February, she took the stage and performed her dynamic repertoire in an intimate concert as a part of her Enfants d’Hiver World Tour, which she sold-out both of her performances. The proceeds benefited the Mae Tao clinic, which provides free heath care for Burmese refugees on the Thai border.
The evening performance featured Mouawad’s work, The Sentinel, written personally for Birkin. It marked the first time the pair collaborated since they performed at the Festival d’Avignon in the summer of 2009. The FIAF program included, “Je t’embrasse pour finir” read in French by Mouawad with English supertitles, as well as “La Sentinelle” read in English by Birkin.
Birkin is well known as the lover, collaboratrice and, later on, friend of legendary singer Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg served as a muse and lyricist for Birkin’s nearly 25 years as an artist, until his untimely death in 1991. His inspiration still runs deep inside her – since his death she has completed six studio albums. In addition to her music, Birkin achieved worldwide fame and icon-status for her roles in Passion Flower Hotel, Blowup, and Daddy Nostalgia. Her status in the world of glamour was immortalized, when Hermès named its très-luxe Birkin bag after her.
The MST was fortunate enough to catch Birkin on her previous concert stop to learn more about her passions, impressive achievements, her fascinating life, and thoughts on New York City.
Benjamin-Émile Le Hay: What inspired you most about Serge Gainsbourg?
Jane Birkin: His humor, melancholy, sincerity, candor, gloom, and fun !
Do you have a favorite song? Why?
“La Javanaise” people sang it like a hymn with candles when he [Gainsbourg] died..
What are some of the fondest experiences you’ve had in life?
My babies! Kate Charlotte [Gainsbourg; also a famed artist, actor and musician] Lou [Doillon; downtown “it” girl and actress]; the joy, the adventures, the beaches, the travels; and now the laughs, the time of warm fires and their giggling, their children; the chance of going back to childhood with them, starting it all again; scratching their backs–telling stories; off to make sand castles, getting caught in the storms, like with Andrew and Linda in my blissful childhood; Mama looking so smashing dark glasses in her mauve sports car, picking blackberries; Pa and his tobacco smoke reading him Dickens, oh how I loved them …
You passionately and quite effectively use your performances and music to promote social cause– do you feel artists do this enough today?
Aung San Sue Kyi [Burmese opposition politician and activist] is in danger, her life is in danger, Chevron covered by Total give that military junta just so much money, 5 billion dollars (and that’s only since 2000, they’ve been at it since 1970!) in a Singapore bank account, 2000 tortured political prisoners, just heard news of « negotiations for the atom bomb, via North Korea, and still we trade with Burma, if anything happens to that Nobel peace prize winner, imprisoned since 1990 having won the general elections, if that lady dies, we will ALL be to blame …so I sing march rally do sit ins …. For my conscience, I care passionately about state hospitals schools prisons, will fight, visit try and work for better conditions if my name helps I’ll use it … I’m only doing what my father did; “social work” in a rather easier, and sometimes fulfilling way! it’s my life …I’m doing things my way, don’t care about death, and have a rather vague knowledge of danger, therefore there is no credit to this!
What inspires you most about living in France?
The French
What are two things that you couldn’t travel/live without?
It’s sad without my bull dog, mais bon, she comes most places… ear plugs, sleeping pills, baby wipes, a shirt, a tooth brush, and I can camp up anywhere … if it’s a cushy trip, vast suit cases and a lot of useless stuff, but I come back loaded with goodies, one Turkish carpet in flea market New York, with an umbrella and a picture of the Titanic on glass! Two meat grinders, four saucepans, a sugar bowl–like in restaurants; wondrous and dangerously exciting whole sale shop on Bowery; a second hand jersey…
What do you like to do in New York? Where do you eat, shop, visit and drink?
I simply love New York. Thanks to Lou, I lodged in Bowery street that I didn’t know, and hotel of that name in its most humble top room… For the show we were in a hotel off Broadway. I had two days off, so I saw a musical a night, central park sledding in the snow; the zoo: Snow monkeys, seals and a polar bear, Guggenheim Museum for Anish Kapoor, Tim Burton; the National Art Gallery; a discrete Viennese art house of Klimt and Igon Scheller… erotic drawings of great beauty. I ran to a vast kids’ shop–thus four battery run helicopters and bouncing glittering balls…. Titanic museum; securing second class cups for the children from gift shop; had lunch in Bowery canteen; and a second hand clothes shop. I looked for the Chinese kitchen store for old fashioned steel meat grinders; my lighting guy searched for light bulbs and so we ended up in china town mesmerized by chandeliers and electric dazzles, then we ran to the Jewish take away for dinner before another musical … Sketching people …drawing book time; the water reserves on the roofs; Gotham City; complexity of the wondrous fish scale Chrysler building… The people! Sort of nice when people chat … Cab drivers, waitresses—make one feel happy; you miss it when you get home!
