The French Institute Alliance Française Announces Courtney Geraghty as New Artistic Director

The French Institute Alliance Française is pleased to announce the appointment of Courtney Geraghty as its new Artistic Director. Geraghty, who has both American and French citizenship, arrives at FIAF following an international career with positions in France, Japan, and Chile. Most recently she served as Cultural Attaché for the French Embassy in Santiago, Chile, curating and commissioning artistic events from a variety of disciplines, while also operating as the South American Performing Arts Liaison across the region. She will begin programming for FIAF in 2019.

"We are thrilled to welcome Courtney to FIAF," said Marie-Monique Steckel, President of FIAF. "With her perspective as an American with a passion for French culture, her extensive international experience, fluency across the arts, and wealth of exciting ideas, she is uniquely qualified to broaden FIAF's position as an artistic pioneer in New York, France, and around the world."

Geraghty remarked: "Coming to FIAF marks a special homecoming for me and I am grateful to have the opportunity to work closely with French, Francophone, and American artists to bring extraordinary performances and experiences to New York. Being able to share my personal history as an American who lived in France, I'm excited to build upon FIAF's 100-year legacy and eager to encourage cross-cultural collaborations with today's innovative artists."

As Cultural Attaché in Chile, Geraghty engaged a younger generation of artists with a particular focus toward diversity and providing opportunities to women, including visual artists Smith and Momoko Seto; choreographers Raphaëlle Delaunay and Bintou Dembélé; author Léonora Miano; and musical duo Ibeyi.

Prior to her position in Chile, she was Artistic Advisor for the performing arts festival Automne en Normandie-which presented works in theater, dance, and music by international artists including Bruno Beltrão, Gavin Bryars, Ryoji Ikeda, Mette Ingvartsen, Thomas Ostermeier, Peaches, Jordi Savall, and Sasha Waltz. The festival also highlighted American artists such as Merce Cunningham, Annie Dorsen, Tina Satter, and Robert Wilson, as well as French artists including Mourad Merzouki, Arthur Nauzyciel, Angelin Preljocaj, Pascal Rambert, and Gisèle Vienne. In this position she also served as Artistic Advisor for the contemporary literature festival Terres de Paroles, which featured readings by actors such as Pascal Greggory, Irène Jacob, Denis Lavant, Michel Piccoli, and Denis Podalydès, of works by living novelists including Maylis de Kerangal, Dany Laferrière, and Duong Thu Huong.

Before that, she was in charge of performing arts at the French Institute in Tokyo, where she arranged productions for Peter Brook, Jérôme Bel, Cecilia Bengolea and François Chaignaud, Patrice Chéreau, Xavier Le Roy, Mathilde Monnier, Olivier Py, Philippe Quesne, and Christian Rizzo, among others.

Geraghty received a Master of Arts Management and Cultural Policy at the Institute of European and International Studies (University of Paris 8), where she graduated summa cum laude. In addition to speaking French and English, she is fluent in Spanish and Japanese, and conversant in German.