LA CULTURA BOOSTING CREATIVITY Chiclana memorial

SPAIN’S defence minister met with Gibraltar’s own John Cortes at a memorial to the Battle of La Barrosa in 1811.

The president of the Cadiz provincial council Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix invited the Minister for Heritage to Chiclana de la Frontera.

The event recalled the famous battle where British troops based in Gibraltar defeated two French divisions during the Napoleonic siege of Cadiz. Despite their heroism, the attack failed to break the siege of the city.

Historians have put this failure down to the Spanish general Manuel la Pena who was later court-martialed for not backing the allied offensive.

Night art

THE Prado Museum in Madrid is now opening its doors on a Saturday evening, as part of a new project called ‘The Prado at Night’.

The public are able to visit a selection of different galleries inside the trove of artworks on the first Saturday of each month from 8.30pm to 11.30pm.

The aim is to ‘connect more closely with all sectors of the public’, according to the museum. The project will also include musical events, and is being sponsored by Samsung. Entry will be free of charge from 8.30pm onward, until all of the available spaces are full. Access will end at 11pm.

‘The Prado at Night’ will run on the following dates: March 4; April 1; May 6; June 3; July 1; and August 5. The museum is the most-visited in Madrid, and racked up more than 2.4 million visitors in 2022.

A UK author, illustrator and publisher led a course to boost 40 children’s creative skills during the mid-term break.

Accord Literary and The Rock Retreat organised the Young Writers’ Workshop over three days at John Mackintosh Hall teaching the students the building blocks of storytelling.

UK-based illustrator Eleanor Taylor Dobbs, author Frances Moloney and publisher Sarah Odedina led the workshop.

Other experts from around the world imparted their knowledge via video call.

The 40 children learnt about ‘storytelling, illustrating and discussing ideas on how to develop a plot and characters’, a Ministry of Culture spokesman said.

They will now use these skills in the Young Writ- ers’ Competition.

“Organisers welcomed contributions from writers, poets, song-writers, illustrators, animators and archivists from all over the world to give the young people the broadest possible experience,” said the spokesman.

“The group was energised and excited to meet the speakers and to hear their stories and learn about the creative process, using these experiences when developing their own ideas.”

They also connected with other students in Ghana and Bermuda via video call.

Minister for Education and Culture John Cortes visited the event.

He said: “It was wonderful to see the engagement of these children, and their enthusiasm for writing, illustrating and books in general.

PASSION: 40 kids took part in the event

“This is precisely what we need to achieve in order to develop our Gibraltarian Literature and for our young people to derive the benefits that books bring.”