Julie Deliquet Stages Han Kang's 'Impossibles adieux' at Avignon Festival
At the 80th Festival d'Avignon, French director Julie Deliquet presented a bilingual reading-performance of 'Oiseau', the first chapter of Han Kang's novel 'Impossibles adieux'. The work explores the Jeju Uprising, a 1948-1949 massacre with an estimated 30,000 victims. Actresses Isabelle Huppert and Hyeyoung Lee performed in French and Korean, respectively. Korean was the guest language for this edition, commissioned by festival director Tiago Rodrigues. Han Kang, born November 27, 1970 in Gwangju, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024. Deliquet, founder of collective In Vitro, has directed at the Comédie-Française and the Théâtre Gérard Philipe, and took over the Théâtre national de la Colline in March 2026. The program also featured Fanny Imbert's report on 'Neige, neige, neige' by Lee Jaram, based on Tolstoy's 'Master and Man'.
Key facts
- Julie Deliquet staged a reading-performance of 'Oiseau' from Han Kang's 'Impossibles adieux' at the 80th Festival d'Avignon.
- Korean was the guest language for the 80th edition of the Festival d'Avignon.
- The performance was commissioned by Tiago Rodrigues.
- Actresses Isabelle Huppert and Hyeyoung Lee performed in French and Korean.
- The text addresses the Jeju Uprising, with an estimated 30,000 victims.
- Han Kang was born November 27, 1970 in Gwangju and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024.
- Julie Deliquet founded the collective In Vitro and directed the Théâtre Gérard Philipe in Saint-Denis.
- Deliquet became director of the Théâtre national de la Colline in March 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Julie Deliquet
- Han Kang
- Isabelle Huppert
- Hyeyoung Lee
- Tiago Rodrigues
- Fanny Imbert
- Lee Jaram
- Claire Diterzi
Institutions
- Festival d'Avignon
- Comédie-Française
- Théâtre Gérard Philipe
- Théâtre national de la Colline
- In Vitro
- RFI
Locations
- Avignon
- France
- Jeju
- Republic of Korea
- Gwangju
- South Korea
- Saint-Denis