A HUNGRY man is not a reasonable man; nor can he ever be expected to be. The hunger of dreams, unreachable though the talents exist, borders on dark mental extremes.
That there is a global recession and the nations around us are unable to pay workers exist on one plane of the mind; that we don’t have enough to rid ourselves of the next spasm of anxiety exists on another.

Politics have kept this country anchored in sabotage and misinformation, from our advent as an Independent nation to the comments on the 2017 Budget. This requires a more perceptive population, and a more interactive government mandate, but this column revolves around what we, specifically those of us in the Arts, must do, and what we must understand in the world in which we dwell, from our private professional worlds.

Almost every creative and artistic talent in Guyana is underused and barely recognised as a potential asset to the economy. That for fifty years we have suffered a chronic creative brain drain is self inflicted; not to say that 90 per cent of those who have migrated are successful in their new lands, but it means that those who are left at home must struggle to once more begin to recreate the proverbial wheel.

EASY PREY
But there is another factor. Since we are fragmented, we become easy prey, and altruistic funds from institutions outside of Guyana may even come and go without the knowledge of those it was intended for.
How can creative persons become recipients of grants, and benefit from monies specified for Cultural Development coming from First World nations? We are in the Decade of People of African Descent, with some possibility that funds can be allotted for culturally depressed areas to enhance our operational capacity. But we in the Arts and Cultural industries qualified as beneficiaries are yet to advocate collectively for our cause.

Because we have never done this before, we are not seen as an inherited political tool, as are the sugar workers or rice farmers. This has got to change! This is the revolution facing the Arts community. And revolution it will be, because it constitutes emancipation from copyright abuse slavery that would inevitably develop an equitable relationship with businesses, as local costs for the licensing of imagery and IPR features will most likely prove less expensive.
This also means that we must look at where money is currently being directed by donor institutions for training; we must have a relationship with small business concerns, as their business is also our business. Failing to do so will not be in our best interest.

The crucial factor that will determine the Arts being emancipated from social and economic ‘Hunter Gathering’ will be our ability to stand the test of time with original style and concept. In a world of fusions incorporated through IPRs, I can remember warning a group of craftmakers that they don’t know what they are up against.

SUBJECT ORIENTATION
Artistic talent is one thing; orientation of subject matter is quite another. Orientation will determine whether the product produced will merit the licensing of cultural industries. Can it withstand the territorial scrutiny, and justify itself within the concept of ‘I am what I am’.
Mastering the tools of the arts today will not be that difficult; what will be challenging will be the saneness of the muse we will attract. In other words, that which will inspire us. Thus, orientation and the knowledge pool will be whence the inspiration will come.

The late Philip Moore found his muse in the dialogue of God-Manliness; the conscious energy that ignites life, and with its awakening strips the consciousness of the obsession with human physiognomy, and peers into the inner-man. Then he proceeded to integrate and express that philosophy with the Guyanese experience, becoming an international artist.
Only a handfull of local artists have done that. But the unexplored creative realms of Guyana are open, and the talents are here. Business and special training in the Arts have not publically merited financed courses from any donor institution; or if it has, it became esoteric, by the non-artistic cliques who apply themselves as brokers on such landscapes.

The Arts are not envisaged as a potential small business area in Guyana that require attention; the rest of the Caribbean have passed us a while ago, with Jamaica at the helm. The irony is that we do not lack material; what we lack most is from ourselves, that of not taking ourselves seriously enough to advocate our right to transcend survival and live.

The one element that will aid us is if the courts bring the copyright violation reward parallel to the US$25.000 awarded by the Barbadian courts. This will, of course, immediately attract foreign litigation, beating up local violators. This will open some doors, but again, if the local arts community cannot ensure ‘indemnity’ on their products, they will also get demolishing licks, because any new relationship that requires professional ethics will result in contracts, to which the Indemnity of the Artistic product will be the responsibility of the artist/e.
In the bold new world of liberated cultural industries, like any field of competitive conflict, foresight driven by a strong knowledge root are the sharpest tools of survival.