By Akola Thompson

OVER the last few years, animation in the Caribbean has become a growing and thriving industry, as more and more persons recognise the importance animation can play in the preservation of cultural history.In Guyana, animation has, for the most part, been a small market; but with a vision to see animation grow and thrive in the country, former Bishops High School student 19-year-old Jubilante Cutting has embarked on the mission of creating an animation network.

Cutting, who first became interested in animation in the year 2013, after being a part of CARICOM’s ‘Girls for ICT day’, said she hopes the network will help to mark and solidify Guyana’s role in the future of animation.
After the ‘Girls for ICT day,’ Cutting said, she made known her interest in being more involved in the programme, and was, later that year, invited to a workshop which featured Camille Selvon Abrahams, who is one of the forerunners of animation in the Caribbean.

Cutting, however, admitted that while she was happy for the opportunity to be at the workshop, she was a bit disheartened that the majority of the persons at the workshop were not those who were truly interested in animation, and she believed that animators and writers should have been given first priority to attend the workshop.

Another issue she saw which needed addressing was the fact that many Guyanese who would have the opportunity of attending these workshops would remain silent about what they would have learnt, and thus those interested in the animation industry felt as if nothing was being done in their area.

Aside from that, she said, it was a great experience, as not only did they learn about animation, but also about the culture of Guyana. “Old folklores that we didn’t but should know were also told to us, because the emphasis was putting Caribbean folklore into animation. Sooner or later that’s what they want to do: they want to produce a Disney film, but a Caribbean version strictly made by Caribbean artists,” she said.

Guyana, she believes, does not do enough to support the Arts. She recounted her shock, while attending the Animae Caribe Festival in Trinidad, upon learning that there were 18- and 19-year-olds in Trinidad who already owned their own animation businesses. This, she said, was especially surprising given that many of them were given grants by the Government to do animation outsourcing and work.

She stated that despite the low support for the Arts, young people should also try to push their craft more, as “it was not a case where they (Trinidadian animators) were dependent on the Government, but they were interested in art and culture and began doing their own underground work, and then when they launched out, the Government had no other choice but to give them grants.”

It even went so far as them building the UTT campus for Arts and animation, music and dance, so young people who do not have an interest in Business or the Sciences would be able to get their degrees and then work for companies such as Disney and Cartoon Network, she said.

Admitting that she is more of a supporter of animation than an animator herself, Cutting said that she “sees the need to have networks like these established, because you need to have these collaborations in the Caribbean when the time comes.”

Shortly after making known her interests in forming an animation network back in Guyana, Cutting learnt of the legal ramifications of having a network established, and claimed that that has set her back quite a bit. The reason for the setback, she said, has to do with the fact that she would have to launch it as a non-for-profit incorporation so that there will be no Government intervention.

“My purpose is not to have this animation group manipulated by Government,” said Cutting. “Art is something you don’t want manipulated by politics, and I want to give animators the opportunity to have their work out there without having any political bias affect it.”

Recognising that not many people involved in the tuning of the network now are Guyanese, Cutting hopes to hold a public call very soon, so that everyone will know about the network and be fairly represented. Following the network’s establishment, she said, she will begin mapping out who will be involved, so as to start meeting with them to explain the network’s purpose and vision, and its role in partnering with others in order to accomplish the goals set out.

“They’ll be able to gain expertise and training from the networks I would have established with people from the programmes I have been a part of. CARICOM is on board in helping to groom the network, so persons will be able to also be a part of CARICOM’s projects,” she said.

It is hoped that the network will be launched before the Animae Caribe Festival this year — which is normally in October — so that Guyanese will have an opportunity to start showcasing their work and begin fostering an appreciation for their own work and culture. Too often in Guyana, she said, it’s a case in which “we don’t appreciate our culture and reflections of it. So to have a network that speaks to that specific cultural need would be great.”