THERE is much more than meets the eye in the creative arts, and according to Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, Guyana can benefit significantly if investors pump capital into the industry.

Dr. Hopkinson, a Howard University and University of Maryland graduate, was the guest speaker at this year’s Republic Anniversary Distinguished Lecture held Thursday at the Umana Yana.

“It doesn’t cost anything to be creative, but you do need some help outside,” she told the gathering. “They have been pulling out all of the riches out of Guyana forever. So, it is a matter where you have to agitate and make it go to places that reflect your values.”
Dr. Hopkinson delved extensively into Guyana’s pluralistic cultural society and the richness of its diversity.

“Art is about radical imagination, it is about imagining a future we cannot now see. It is not just about the poets and the painters; it is also for the women and men on the street.  We are in trying times and we really need all hands on deck, no voice and no vision should be left behind,” she emphasised.

Cultural Policy Adviser at the Ministry of Education, Ruel Johnson explained that the Republic Anniversary has both a celebratory and reflective aspect. This year’s reflective aspect took the form of the public lecture, he related.

Johnson said he wanted to explore the nexus between the creative arts, culture and the concept of citizenship within the Republic.

Addressing the point raised by Dr. Hopkinson, Johnson said he is interested in using oil revenue investment directly with the expectation that the “orange economy” is going to be a viable component of whatever future economic diversification that will come.

Quoting the renowned Poet, AJ Seymour, Dr. Hopkinson said for the artist of Guyana, the revelation of a national identity is the most revolutionary possibility that exists.
“The Guyana man has to recreate himself in his own image as an indispensable basis on which to realise the image of a national identity,” she said.

The lecture was part of a series of activities organised by the Ministry of Education leading up to the 48thAnniversary of Guyana’s Republic.