A centre built by Italian immigrants in the 1970s hopes to capture the imaginations of younger generations as the influx of new Italians wanes.
"The treasure that was created, the tesoro, the legacy, it's really important for the next generation of Italian-Canadians to sustain it," said Mauro Vescera, the new executive director of the Italian Cultural Centre. "We don't want it to be the Italian catering centre. Our objective is how do we sustain the Italian cultural community centre, open it up to the broader public."
The centre on Slocan Street at South Grandview Highway is forging new partnerships to breathe new life into the meeting place that was built by 13 associations, most of them representing different regions of Italy, nearly 40 years ago. Now 37 associations are affiliated with the centre. "Other centres like the Greek community, the Croatian community, are experiencing the same thing," Vescera said. "We're blessed with a great brand, if you will. When you think of Italian design, food, fashion and art, there's a lot to work with and a lot of interest in it."
The centre has hosted a Vancouver Opera production, is partnering on a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert of Italian music in July and working with City Opera on a Viva Verdi show. An Italian folk band will play at the centre as well as at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
It has started a new food series that highlights the cuisine of a different region of Italy every couple months, has collaborated with Cibo Trattoria on a craft beer and Italian food night and is investigating working with Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks and farmers markets.
"That is part of our culture, as you know," Vescera said. "Italians are food snobs."
Bosa Foods has collaborated on an upcoming exhibit about the story of pasta, with future exhibits focused on paper and ceramics. Other series focus on Italian writers and designers.
The centre is working with the Vancouver International Film Festival to bring the first Italian film festival to town in the fall.
An online Italian language program is being developed with the Burnaby school district and Simon Fraser University.
The centre already involves youth in sports programs and at the language school and has applied for funding for a program that would not be restricted to Italian-Canadian youth.
The Italian Cultural Centre consists of 55,000 square feet of space on close to six acres that was donated by the city in the 1970s. It includes a museum, Italian language school, library, ballroom, trattoria, osteria, four indoor bocce courts and meeting rooms. La Piazza Dario Ristorante Italiano and Westside Montessori Academy are residents of the centre, which also helped developed two residential buildings that are run by other societies. It has 450 parking spots. "We have a lot of land and we are investigating opportunities to build a gymnasium, possibly a theatre and a mercato Italiano, an Italian market, as a way to draw people here," Vescera said.
The centre partners with Italian Day on the Drive, June 9, and kicks off Italian Heritage Month activities at the centre June 4. For more information, see italianculturalcentre.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
