THE eighth annual Kingston On The Edge (KOTE) Urban Art Festival is scheduled for June 19-28, with a concert to restore the historic Ward Theatre taking pride of place.

Slated for closing day, that event is dubbed ‘Opera Meets Nyahbinghi’. A number of Jamaica’s top classical artistes, including Jon Williams, Peter Ashbourne and Steven Woodham, will share the stage with Chilean mezzo-soprano Maria Cecilia Toledo and veteran reggae guitarist Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith’s Inna Di Yard All Stars roots ensemble.

Alwyn Scott will be the evening’s narrator. Enola Williams, a co-founder and organiser of KOTE, spoke to the Sunday Observer about the organisation’s second venture with The Ward. “It’s important to save a performing arts centre like The Ward. Kingston needs it,” she said.

Located in downtown Kingston, the Ward Theatre was donated to the city of Kingston by Colonel C J Ward in 1912. It was declared a national monument in January 2000.

Many of Jamaica’s greatest musicians, including Bob Marley, performed there. So did American opera singers Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson.

Before it fell into disrepair, The Ward hosted the annual pantomime for many years. The 2015 KOTE season is dubbed ‘Transitions’.

Thirty-one events at parks, galleries, bars and restaurants will transform Kingston into the Caribbean’s art capital. “We are exploring the concept of change as it manifests in art as an expression of mobility and a reflection of life transiency. Inspired by the recent transitions of artists like Peter Dean Rickards and Annabella Proudlock, we are also addressing the notion of transition in art as it moves through space, time and antiquity into the future,” said Williams.

On opening night, at Redbones Blues Café, the documentary, Ten Years in Afflicted Yard, a tribute to cinematographer/director Rickards, will be shown. This will be complemented by an arts, fashion, painting and photography exhibition. The gallery segment focuses on ‘intricacies and intimacies of femininity’ by artist Chandis.

Later that evening, there is a live music show, ‘Musical Transitions’, featuring Nadia Harris-McAnuff, Sky Grass, Lethal Audio, The Wizard and Uprising Roots Orchestra. KOTE Urban Arts Festival is the brainchild of five arts enthusiasts (Williams, Beatriz Pozueat, Carolyn Lazarus and Joaquin Portocarrero) who wanted to showcase and promote Jamaican artists.

— Basil Walters