AGAIN, I emphasise the need for citizens who embody the creative arts in our nation to have a support medium to take their ideas and products onto the platforms where they can demonstrate the value of their creative work. We must, in our various fields, be allowed to repeat what we have done before; whatever we express must excel what we have done before. The requirement of shelf life today must fit into the creative expectations that are in vogue. I tip my hat to artists who still embrace their talents, keeping aware of the artistic perspective and considering the following context.

The difference between Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean, where dialogue and support in the common interest prevail, is that Guyana was the second country to commence the development of National Art Schools after Jamaica. They have emphasised usefulness in areas that we have not done, and we in areas that they have not competed in, due to necessity; likewise, they have not. The essence of engagement highlighted the lack of discussions on the arts within broader society.

During my tour of duty with the ERC, I had a conversation with another commissioner who has roots in the arts. We both agreed that in many cases, personnel designated to interact with the arts may very well have a limited interest or awareness of the arts and their hegemony in the broader realms of our human existence. Therefore, such limitations will cause confusion here and there, not realising that the arts are incorporated in many industries and, on its own, is an industry with tremendous scope — if one can cross the bridges through seizing the interests of the “guardian trolls.”

There must be something off that to discuss with Guyana’s mature artists, I had to use WhatsApp, because most of them are overseas. What was satisfying to me was their interest.

The fact about the arts is the reality that, when interacting with the state, the state must demonstrate flexibility, because whoever that person the state designates will have to concede that they are learning something new, or have established themselves as experienced. Because it’s a field of mental combat with new rules, rules that imply a level of creative knowledge, to be able to recognise original ideas against those that can result in litigation and embarrassment.

Thus, success in the arts relies on a broad spectrum of knowledge and relevant new ideas. That is why, in my view, people avoid intellectual and core-building discussions with the arts, unless they have a background of attention with interest in comparing the local expression against overseas, and are convinced that the arts are by all means a platform for income earning. Exploring facts through trade articles, both local and international, reveals an imbalance in references to the arts as an industry on any market stage.

That is why a proposal was presented in 2019 towards a secretariat managed by personnel from such companies [there are a limited number of Guyanese companies that produce creative works, that are forced to protect IPR rights registered beyond Guyana]. One of the myths in Guyana, in some areas, about the arts, is that it’s not a viable area of life-earning and respectable engagement extended into credible learning — all you have to have is some talent. That is pathetic. Especially in this era, the fact is that not exploring the arts and their business in today’s world, and their impact on human history, is the fault that permits that simplistic conclusion.

Few people would believe that Albert Einstein, the physicist whose revolutionary cosmic theories have captivated our consciousness, when feeling over-challenged, passionately embraced the comfort of his violin and threw himself into the therapeutic power of music, which rejuvenated his persistence. Dr. Denis Williams, the artist, anthropologist, and writer — the founder of the Burrowes School of Art — was the first person to educate me on the fact that Leonardo da Vinci designed giant artillery machines of war, before the sophisticated engineering of warfare became a common occupation.

Thus, the arts in Guyana must be engaged through its practitioners on platforms of merit, with the necessary due respect, if we are to compete and earn the respect due.