Minister Grange Secures Italian Assistance for Restoration of Ward Theatre

The Ward Theatre, the largest theatrical house in the English-speaking Caribbean is to benefit from the expertise of Italian restoration professionals, as Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange moves to get the 96-year-old institution restored to its former glory.
During a recent visit to Venice, Italy, considered one of the most beautiful and culturally enriched cities in the world, Minister Grange held discussions with the Director of Culture and secured an agreement for assistance in the Ward Theatre restoration project.
During a tour of the city’s heritage sites, the Minister was able to view the results of several of the city’s restoration projects and view the work of the revered artist, Tiopolo.
She was impressed with the technology applied to restoration and the realistic results achieved.
In addition to supporting the Ward Theatre project, the Italians agreed to assist with other aspects of Jamaica’s cultural programmes, including the continued training of Jamaicans at Italian restoration institutions. They also offered to facilitate collaborative work between one of Jamaica’s leading classical singers Anna Strachan and renowned Italian classical singer, Boccelli.
During the trip, which also included a visit to the Rototom Reggae Sunsplash where she offered support to Jamaican artistes on tour, Minister Grange also met with a number of senior officials, including the mayors of Udine, Osopo and Friuli.
The Minister lobbied the local authorities and secured agreement for their continued support of the 15-year-old Rototom Reggae Sunsplash festival which annually features the cream of Jamaica’s music performers. The 10-day event is considered the biggest of more than 150 summer festivals in Europe. It attracts over 150,000 visitors to the city injecting more than three million Euros directly into the local economy and employing almost 1700 workers.
Minister Grange lauded the impact Jamaican culture was having in the region, emphasising that the levels of enthusiasm and excitement were direct indicators of how successful the Brand Jamaica concept can be.
She said: “As an indication of how important consumption of Jamaican culture is in Italy, particularly reggae music, the wine company that sponsored the event even produced a limited edition Rototom Reggae Wine. During the festival they even have a reggae university where lectures are given. They stream the events live and they are broadcast internationally by satellite on hundreds of TV and radio stations. One of the most interesting things I saw, which reinforced the strength of Brand Jamaica, was thousands of vendors selling “Jamaican” products, including jerk. The event attracts media from all over the world and projects a very positive image of Jamaica.”
Minister Grange said the organisers planned to participate in Jamaica’s annual, official recognition of its most popular art form, Reggae Month, next year.