1 - 7 June 2000

Parliamentary secretary supports Bay Street's artisan market initiative

by a staff reporter

During a visit to the Dhalia Head Office where the artists impressions of the Bay Street Artisan Market where displayed, Edwin Vassallo, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Services, expressed his satisfaction at the professional manner in which the artisan market has been designed and integrated into this new family entertainment complex. He said that this kind of entrepreneurship should be commended because the Bay Street Artisan Market has the potential to become an attraction not only to the tourists who come to Malta but also to the public in general.

Mr Vassallo augured that the Bay Street Artisan Market will become a proper crafts centre committed to promote local handicrafts. He added that the local artisan market can only be sustained and developed into business opportunities through the supply of quality made handicrafts. "What is being presented to us today is a showcase for genuine Maltese artisanship. I hope that this projects will help to lead the way for the development of the whole artisan market in Malta," he said. Speaking about the artisan market, Bay Street's marketing director, Chris Grech, stated that the artisan market within Bay Street will help to differentiate the project from other existing centres of entertainment and retail in Malta.

This section is intended to be what every Piazza is for our villages, the hub of society, the meeting place and the centre of Bay Street, pumping life and colour day and night. The artisan market will include several local handmade products, a living market place with changing themes and a platform for local and foreign artists and performers. The artisan market will have its own cultural calendar of events which will seek to promote local culture and colour. Mr Grech also introduced Ray Bajada, who with his years of experience in this field, will be heading the Bay Street Artisan Market. Mr Grech went on to explain that the artisan market is intended to identify with our local heritage. It will be the centre of activity, the heart of Bay Street, emitting the soul of Maltese culture. This kind of culture will be evident on its various forms, be it theatre, painting, sculpture, music, literature but also and most definitely in its more basic form, our handicrafts.

All retail outlets within the artisan market will provide solely locally handmade products, some of which will be produced on site. It will also include various other retail stalls with changing themes such as a wine bar, Maltese food stalls, an art gallery all of which will converge to make it Malta's only live artisan market.