Alliance Française De Singapour Invites you on a journey AROUND THE WORLD

Local non-profit educational and cultural organisation Alliance Française De Singapour invites you on a journey AROUND THE WORLD! This highly immersive, interesting, enriching and engaging exhibition showcases the best of French transportation across the ages. This exhibition is inspired by French author Jules Verne and his world famous Extraordinary Voyages collection which includes celebrated novel, “Around the World in 80 Days”.

Whether you are a travel wanderlust, an explorer, a history and heritage lover, or a geek/nerd in transportation networks via land, sea or air travel modes, or a fascination for space and beyond, AROUND THE WORLD at Alliance Française De Singapour will definitely interest you to hop onboard a journey AROUND THE WORLD!

Pack your bags, it’s time to embark on a journey AROUND THE WORLD at Alliance Française De Singapour! Following protagonist Phileas Fogg’s challenge in the novel, you are now going to transcend through time and space, traveling around the world via air, land, sea or space.

Arrival at the Itinerary Office

Upon arrival at the Itinerary Office, you will be greeted and invited to write your your thoughts and feelings as you prepare to embark on this highly immersive, interesting and engaging journey AROUND THE WORLD.

The Alliance Française De Singapour AROUND THE WORLD travelers notebook/passport to France is your companion guide. When I returned home after visiting this amazing exhibition that brought out the travel visual storyteller (and wanderlust) in me, I took out my travel writing kit/ink stamps and travel accessories, and began my journey AROUND THE WORLD.

When I started writing down my travel adventures journey AROUND THE WORLD, it brought back memories of “The Little Prince”, an exhibition that I visited some years back in 2018, held at the former Singapore Philatelic Museum. Somehow, this kind of connects the dot together in my exploration journey AROUND THE WORLD.

There is no hard and fast rule on where and how you want to start your AROUND THE WORLD journey at Alliance Française De Singapour. You can start with air travel that you might be most familiar and comfortable with, or you might prefer to go on a historical and heritage approach from the Industrial Revolution, to the boom of world travel and tourism and beyond.

Around the World By Land

Discover France’s intercity TGV, an acronym for Train à Grande Vitesse. Duly named ‘high-speed train’, he holds the world record for speed and is constantly pushing the limits of high-speed rail technology globally. TGV M (“M” for modular), the newest generation of high-speed trains is also presented, providing a forward-looking lens into the future of higher energy saving and more cost-efficient modes of land travel.

Did you spot Singapore’s MRT train inside this land transportation segment? What is the relationship between our Singapore MRT and French transportation? I would leave it for you to visit and discover the answer for yourself!

Around the World By Sea

Long before flying around the world becomes a common form of transportation, sea travel leads the way for movement and travels around the world. In this fascinating world of French sea transportation, check out a model of of the SS France, celebrating the epitome of French excellence, recalling how the longest Trans-Atlantic liner at the time, a record held for 42 years, charmed sea passengers in the 1960s with her luxury, beauty and grace, up till her very last journey in 1974.

Around the World By Air

Some of the most iconic aircrafts that have played a significant role in shaping modern air travel. Before you vote for the Airbus A380, check out the world’s first supersonic passenger-carrying airplane, Air France’s Concorde, which still holds the record for some fastest commercial flight journeys today, embodying French art de vivre at its finest. Guests are encouraged to reminisce the craft in its glory days through Concorde’s original menu, tableware or beauty pouch on display.

By the way, do you recall or still have the Singapore $20 note that has the image of the iconic Concorde soaring above Changi Airport? Do you remember when the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 make headlines arriving into Singapore Changi Airport?

While I may not have flown on the Concorde, I did at least flown once on the Airbus A380 from Singapore to Shanghai! Next travel wanderlust goal is to fly on the Airbus A350 to a faraway destination!

Around the World by Space

The human race dreamt and wrote about traveling to space in the earlier centuries, today it’s a reality. Let’s take a journey beyond Earth and into vast expanse of space.

Have a first-hand experience by entering into an immersive experience of space travel through a Virtual Reality experience, ‘Dans la peau de Thomas Pesquet’, literally in the shoes of Thomas Pesquet, allows them to explore space like never before, with the French European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, famous for spending six months in the International Space Station.

Next stop: Space travel?

A Chance to win an Air France flight ticket!

As you completed your journey AROUND THE WORLD at Alliance Française De Singapour, has your travel wanderlust might probably be invoked and awakened deep inside you. How would you like a chance to win a trip to Paris?

Every visitor to the AROUND THE WORLD exhibition will also stand the chance to win an Air France Singapore-Paris flight ticket. How do you participate? Visitors just simply need to submit their entry ticket and complete a quiz about the exhibition. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, explore, and win at AROUND THE WORLD!

Fabian Forni, Executive Director of Alliance Française de Singapour, said, “We are truly honoured to present this important exhibition inviting you to discover all the French innovations that have revolutionised the way we travel on land, by sea, and in the air or space, from the record-breaking ones to those that will allow us to better preserve our planet.”

Series of Activities during the MOVE! Programme

That’s more than just this captivating and mesmerising AROUND THE WORLD exhibition, there are also a series of dynamic, fun and enriching activities hosted by Alliance Française De Singapour throughout the duration of the MOVE! Programme, their tenth French Excellence Programme. You are invited to explore the past, present and future of French transportation, along with a series of talks, film screenings, workshops and activities for kids.

Film Screenings

The French action thriller film, “The Wolf’s Call”, which stars Omar Sy from Netflix acclaimed TV series Lupin and award-winning biopic on Jacques-Yves Cousteau, ‘The Odyssey’. Families with young children can look forward to a family-friendly selection of films which includes the film adaptation of Jules Verne’s timeless masterpiece, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, as well as a chuck glider making workshop and engaging storytelling sessions in the Alliance Française library to immerse themselves in the exciting world of aviation.

Workshops

For wine lovers, there will be an immersive wine tasting workshop, hosted the multi-Michelin starred French restaurant, Les Amis, as a nod to the role of Michelin in French transportation, led by Mr. Hervé Pennequin, who ranked third in the 2004 Sommelier World Championship.

Guests who wish to dive deeper into the future of transportation can attend a talk by Professor Jean-Marie Tarascon from the Collège de France, who will be speaking on the theme “Transportation Tomorrow”.

Alliance Française de Singapour would like to thank its sponsors – the Embassy of France in Singapore, Alstom and Perrier, and its partners – Airbus, Air France, Decathlon, Institut Français, La Vingt-Cinquième Heure, Les Amis, Michelin, Nanyang Polytechnic, Petrossian, RATP Dev – for helping to bring MOVE! to life.

AROUND THE WORLD Exhibition

Venue: La galerie, Alliance Française De Singapour

Address: 1 Sarkies Road Singapore 258130

Dates: 27th April to 15th July 2023

Gallery opening hours

Monday: closed

Tuesday to Friday: 1:00pm to 7:30pm

Saturday: 9am to 5:30pm

Admission: Free

For more information about Alliance Française De Singapour and information on booking tickets, please visit https://alliancefrancaise.org.sg/move#/

Alliance Française De Singapour