Italian Cultural Centre takes bigger role in arts scene, eyes building theatre

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      Don't be surprised to see the Italian Cultural Centre as a presenting partner on Isabella Rossellini's sold-out Green Porno, The Live Show.

      It's just the latest collaboration as the 38-year-old institution known as Il Centro takes a bigger role in the arts here as part of a larger goal of reaching out and renewal.

      Il Centro executive director Mauro Vescera actually took the idea of bringing Green Porno here to the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, after hearing about its appearance in Toronto (at the Luminato Festival) last year. PuSh is now copresentating the one-woman show on Saturday (April 25) at the Vancouver Playhouse. "It builds on the expertise that PuSh has and extends us into collaboration with one of the premiere performing arts companies in the city," says Vescera, who is well acquainted  with local arts organizations due to previous positions like his job as program director at the Vancouver Foundation.

      The cultural centre has taken up similar collaborations with the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival, and City Opera, with whom it presents concerts of music by—certamente—Italian composers.

      "We see this as being more involved in our community," Vescera says. "It's about becoming more proactively engaged....I'm happy to say the audience here has grown and the opportunities to work with other organizations has certainly multiplied."

      Il Centro is also reaching out in other ways, he points out, getting more involved in Italian Days on the Drive, launching its Friday-evening Italian farmers market, and helping develop a community garden. It is well situated on a bike route, near the Skytrain, on a big parcel of land with an empty parking lot. It is looking at expanding its own facility to include a black-box theatre and a gym "to help transition to an Italian community centre", Vescera explains, adding the organization has concept plans and is considering redeveloping the site.

      "We want to draw back the third, fourth generation Italians and the wider community," he says. "By adding these amenities we can translate that into a legacy for the community. It has some real potential."

      Follow Janet Smith on Twitter @janetsmitharts.

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