We are yet to hear any further details of what we were told was a string of unfortunate occurrences that led to a number of exhibitors from Guyana being unable to participate in an Atlanta, USA trade fair and exhibition in which they had invested considerable sums of money, hoping, presumably, to recoup (at least) some of their investments through sales and, in the longer term, to create more permanent markets.
The problem, we were told, had to do with disquiet on the part of the Customs authorities in the United States over the manner in which the exhibits were shipped; a circumstance, we presume, that has to do with the enhanced assertiveness of the US authorities in matters pertaining to keeping out unwanted food imports. Whatever the specifics of the problem, we were told at the time that the decision by the Customs authorities to impound – at least for a period – the consignment which should have found its way to the Atlanta event meant that some of the would-be exhibitors were unable to participate in the event.
It should be mentioned at this point that the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) which customarily provides various forms of support to art and craft producers attending trade fairs and exhibitions outside Guyana was involved in supporting this exercise; though we are unclear as to the extent.
Our enquiry with Go-Invest yielded a concession that it was aware of the Atlanta event and of the fact that the Guyanese contingent encountered some difficulties.
What the official there told us in response to our more specific enquiries was that the dissemination of any further information on the matter would have to be cleared by the Head of the agency. That was the last that we heard about the matter.
We raise this issue because what is now clear is that as an economic sector the local art and craft industry has been going nowhere fast. The occasional official mouthings about the role which this sector can play in providing employment, alleviating poverty and adding an additional dimension to the tourism sector accounts to little more than the patronage to which we have become accustomed. The truth of the matter is that the local art and craft sector – as a sector, that is – is moving forward at a snail’s pace (if at all) and such accomplishments as are being realised are occurring at the level of individual efforts.
Perhaps the most poignant case in point is the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of craft-related micro enterprises, by Amerindian women in various interior locations, which must wait on GuyExpo or some other occasional urban trade fair for a measure of the meaningful exposure and market opportunity.
We hear little – if anything at all – about genuine efforts to lift these enterprises off the floor by way of real and sustained official support that can elevate these initiatives above the level of kitchen and living room initiatives.
When we speak of the local art and craft industry one gets the distinct impression that the phrase excludes Amerindian craftspeople despite the obvious popularity of their handiwork with sections of the overseas market. More than that – and based on the information that we receive – the Guyana Art and Craft Producers Association continues to be besieged with its own difficulties including what would appear to be differences of one sort or another within the membership that have had the effect of stifling the growth of the organisation and, by extension, the industry as a whole.
The other issue worth mentioning has to do with the fact that we have heard little in recent times about what we were told was an agreement between the government and the association that the latter would be assigned a building to occupy which would be used as a secretariat and for exhibition, marketing, training and other related purposes. That situation appears to have ‘gone to ground’ so to speak.
Meanwhile, those artists and craftspeople with whom we are in touch continue to demonstrate diminishing faith in either official promises or in the association, preferring, it seems, to go it alone in the hope that one day, their own entrepreneurial determination and perhaps a bit of luck, rather than any form of official patronage, will bring them some measure of reward.
