When the Carifesta X finale is held later today, the 10-day festival will no doubt be hailed as a resounding success, perhaps based on the numbers of people who would have attended the various events, as well as showed up for what turned out to be non-events. But we really are not there yet. There is no denying that there have been several shining moments; star quality performances in some instances, by both the locals and our visitors. However, there were way too many errors made in the execution and details.
Not having attended any of the previous festivals, I am not in a position to comment on whether any other host country had done any better over the years. But what would have been obvious to anyone with eyes over the past 10 days is that generally, very little attention is paid to the arts here. What you put in is what you get back and the only people who can take credit for any of the polished performances put on are the performers themselves, who practise their craft in a professional manner in what are sometimes very dire circumstances.
One glaring example of this is the National School of Dance. Now some 34 years old, this institution is still the only one of its kind in the country. Run by Director Linda Griffith, it offers free classes to anyone who wants to learn and many do. Its woefully inadequate three studios in the National Park in Georgetown cater to some 300 students, Monday to Saturday at various times during the day. It must be dedication that keeps its team of teachers going since it could never be the meagre sums they receive from government; the still rough studio floors that snag and tear leotards and tights and leave splinters under skin; or the puddles and slush they and their students must navigate to get to the benabs/studios whenever it rains.
The National School of Dance and its offshoot the National Dance Company have nevertheless over the years put out hundreds of top quality productions and talented dancers. This institution has earned respect throughout the region as well as farther afield, but it is yet to get the full attention of the government. The dance school is crying out for larger and more modern studios, where its full repertoire of dance would be easily imparted; where its budding students would flourish even more. Instead, it remains like the forgotten stepchild, only remembered or brought to the fore when its dancers are needed to perform.
Music and drama fare much worse. There is a national steel band, a recent invention of Minister of Culture Dr Frank Anthony. However, there is not even the pretence of a national string band or orchestra, with the exception of course of the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force bands.
Music is taught in only some schools and even then in a limited fashion. Were it not for people like Marilyn Dewar and a handful of others, who have made the teaching of music their life’s work, it would already have died off.
For years, the forlorn shell that was the Theatre Guild Playhouse represented what this and previous governments thought of drama. A few diehards, notable among them Gem Madhoo-Nascimento, continued to look for and present productions at the National Cultural Centre as well as at other non-traditional venues. Madhoo-Nascimento also took the initiative to seek donor funding for youth drama workshops, which have been well received. Several private individuals then took on the mammoth task of rebuilding the Playhouse and it was completed this year with contributions from private sector agencies and the government and put into use for Carifesta.
Painters, sculptors, designers and the like can hone their skills at the Burrowes School of Art – again the only institution of its kind in the country – if they are able to gain one of the limited places available, while the University of Guyana offers a degree in fine arts.
Despite the pleadings of many for over a decade, there still is no copyright legislation in place to protect artists’ work. I could go on, but I am sure I have more than made my point. We undertook to host a festival of the arts, when the arts have not yet made it to the list of priorities. Small wonder then that there was bungling at the opening ceremony. The fact is that we are not ready yet and not likely to be any time soon.
It has been reported that President Bharrat Jagdeo, in his typical impulsive fashion and perhaps in response to the criticisms from Derek Walcott and others, has pledged $20 million to the establishment of a regional publishing house. While this is not gratuitous, he would have done well to look inwards at the other areas of the arts that are dying from lack of proper investment.
