🎯 The Main Takeaway
On Thursday (10/09), the French Embassy and Institut français d’Indonésie (IFI) hosted two press conferences at the French Ambassador’s Residence in Jakarta to unveil major initiatives aimed at deepening cultural and diplomatic ties:
Rimbaud Residency: The first press conference highlighted the inaugural bilateral and reciprocal literary residency between France and Indonesia, anchored in Semarang. The session featured H.E. Fabien Penone (French Ambassador to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and ASEAN), Dr. Agustina Wilujeng Pramestuti (Mayor of Semarang), and Louis-Philippe Dalembert (the first Rimbaud Residency writer) as keynote speakers.
Creative ASEAN: A regional cooperation framework spanning all 11 ASEAN Member States to empower the creative industries and contemporary arts.
Both programmes underscore a shared commitment between France and Southeast Asia to transform historical heritage and artistic synergy into inclusive, long-term creative economy growth.
📡 Why It’s on Our Radar?
These launches follow up on and operationalise key high-level diplomatic agreements:
46th ASEAN Summit (26 May 2025): Adoption of the ASEAN Creative Economy Sustainability Framework.
Borobudur Declaration (29 May 2025): Signed by President Emmanuel Macron and President Prabowo Subianto to outline a joint cultural strategy between France and Indonesia.
150th Anniversary of Rimbaud’s Passage (July & August 2026): Commemorating French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s 1876 journey through Java, which began in Semarang.
🌍 The Bigger Picture: France & ASEAN
These cultural milestones are part of a rapidly expanding, multi-pillar relationship.
France has historic political, economic, and cultural ties with Southeast Asia, marked by a sustained schedule of high-level meetings—including President Macron’s May 2025 tour of Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, and his July 2025 meeting in Paris with the Malaysian Prime Minister (then ASEAN Chair).
Key pillars of this broader partnership include:
Diplomatic Pioneer: France was the first European country to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in 2007, and the first to adopt an Indo-Pacific strategy in 2018.
Development & Funding: A formal Development Partnership established in 2020 is guided by a 2022–2026 joint action plan. The French Development Agency (AFD) supports this through a newly created €2 million France-ASEAN Fund (2024).
Green & Blue Investments: Since 2023, France has implemented over €15 million in regional projects covering air quality, maritime waste, the blue economy, and energy efficiency (including support for the ASEAN Power Grid to boost renewable energy).
Defence & Security: France serves as an observer in the ASEAN Plus Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM+) working groups (2024–2027) for maritime security and disaster relief, and has been an ASEANAPOL observer since 2019, cooperating to combat transnational crime, cybercrime, and drug trafficking.
📖 Rimbaud Residency: From History to Contemporary Creation
Named after Arthur Rimbaud, the programme is designed as a reciprocal three-month literary residency:
Inaugural French Resident in Indonesia (Sept–Nov 2026): Louis-Philippe Dalembert, an award-winning Haitian-born French novelist and poet (Prix Orange du Livre 2017, Choix Goncourt winner), will reside in Semarang. He will work from Lawang Sewu while hosting workshops and engaging with local writers, UNNES researchers, and readers.
Indonesian Resident in France (Early 2027): A selected Indonesian writer will undertake a three-month residency at the Cité internationale de la langue française (Château de Villers-Cotterêts).
“The Rimbaud Residency invites a new generation of writers to undertake a different kind of journey—not in search of escape, but of encounter, dialogue and creation.” — Press Release IFI
🌏 Creative ASEAN: A Regional Umbrella
The day's second press conference shifted the spotlight to regional collaboration, officially launching the Creative ASEAN initiative.
Held at the Residence of France in Jakarta, the event outlined a bold new strategy to strengthen collaboration in the arts, culture, and creative industries across France and all 11 ASEAN Member States.
While France already supports diverse cultural programmes through its network of Embassies, Instituts français, and Alliances françaises across Southeast Asia, Creative ASEAN will consolidate these bilateral initiatives under a single, unified regional framework. Supported by the ASEAN-France Fund, the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Culture and Arts (SOMCA) will implement this initiative.
During the launch, key diplomatic leaders emphasised the strategic importance of this cross-border partnership:
“ASEAN has invested significantly in building our cultural identity and a thriving creative ecosystem. Creative ASEAN represents our sustained efforts towards building a strategic partnership that connects ASEAN’s dynamic creative landscape with France’s distinctive artistic excellence and expertise.” — Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN.
“Creative ASEAN reflects our shared ambition to deepen cultural ties between France and ASEAN Member States with a regional ambition. It will create new opportunities for artists, institutions and creative professionals to collaborate, exchange knowledge and develop projects with regional and international impact.” — Fabien Penone, French Ambassador to ASEAN.
“Creative industries affirm our identities and breathe new life into our societies. Creative ASEAN brings together the strengths of ASEAN and France: France’s deep intellectual, historical, and artisanal capital and enduring capacity for creativity and innovation, alongside Southeast Asia’s rich histories, distinct yet shared traditions, and growing prosperity. Together, these strengths can drive creative industries that celebrate identity while opening new opportunities for collaboration, innovation and growth.” — Evangeline T. Ong Jimenez-Ducrocq, Philippine Permanent Representative to ASEAN.
🗝️ Key Features of Creative ASEAN:
At Least 11 Flagship Projects: Every ASEAN Member State will host at least one flagship initiative under the Creative ASEAN label, ranging from research-based or creation-oriented artistic residencies to professional capacity-building workshops.
Priority Sectors: Film and audiovisual production, design and fashion, performing arts and music, gaming and animation, immersive technology, literature, creative entrepreneurship, and cultural policy.
Direct Reach: Across its project cycle, the programme will directly benefit 15–20 participants in artistic residencies and 25–40 participants in professional exchanges and workshops.
Connecting Ecosystems: The initiative encourages itinerant or multi-location residencies, allowing an artist to begin research in one ASEAN Member State, continue in another, and present the final work in France.
Regional Digital Platform: To ensure long-term sustainability, an online platform will feature an interactive regional map, directories of cultural organisations, open calls, case studies, and professional networking tools.
🚀 Moving Forward…
Both initiatives serve as building blocks for long-term cultural exchange. Before June 2027, the Embassy of France – IFI plans to expand literary and translation residencies across other regions of Indonesia.
Regionally, the Creative ASEAN digital platform will go live to maintain continuous connections among creators across ASEAN and France.
📌 The Bottom Line
Culture has taken centre stage in France’s diplomatic engagement with Indonesia and ASEAN.
From honouring Arthur Rimbaud’s legacy in Central Java to expanding creative opportunities across 11 Southeast Asian nations, these initiatives, backed by robust economic and security partnerships, pave the way for artist mobility, creative innovation, and enduring people-to-people connections.
🔎 Need More Angles?
Embassy of France to ASEAN France and ASEAN
(JUN/VNS/QOB)