Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, a Valletta-born artist and academic, has been appointed artistic director of Strait Street to oversee its artistic and cultural regeneration.

Speaking this morning at The Splendid, a dilapidated former hotel in Strait Street, Valletta 2018 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef said the new artistic director would provide direction on the street’s aesthetics while curating a diverse programme of artistic events.

Dr Schembri Bonaci is a senior lecturer in the Department of Art History at the University of Malta, and the founder of Teatru Strada Stretta. He is also the Artistic Director of the Mdina Biennale.

“Strait Street is to become a tradition and institution, a brand name of art and culture,” he said. “This will be sustained by a programme of quality events and continuous activity.”

While highlighting the value of increased investment, particularly in the form of new bars and restaurants, Dr Schembri Bonaci said his goal was complete “spiritual, artistic and academic regeneration” of the entertainment area once known as The Gut.

“Malta is going through rapid socio-economic changes, and we must respond artistically. I want Strait Street to be part of that response.”

The programme of events is planned to include exhibitions, theatre productions, symposia and jamming sessions.

Dr Schembri Bonaci said he also saw as crucial the regeneration of an “alternative culture” of jazz music, cabaret, theatre and urban culture running alongside the more traditional cultural activities in Valletta.

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