The Institute of Creative Arts (ICA) will celebrate its fifth Convocation on Thursday, September 20, 2018. This is an important academic milestone for the Institute and for its four schools. But it is also a signal of the advancement in training in the literary, visual, and performing arts in Guyana, and another step in the harmonisation of tertiary training in the arts with developments across the Caribbean.
Years ago, the Caribbean took a new approach to the arts as a recognised career, as an industry, as economic factor, and as academic study. This was a significant development over old attitudes that saw art as purely decorative, art as its own reward, art for its own sake, and as a mere pastime. The general change of attitude has been registered at various levels and in different ways.
At the highest political level was the topics on the agenda of COHSOD, the statutory inter-governmental body of CARICOM dealing with matters of social and human development (one of its other complementary councils dealing with trade and economics is COTED). The COHSOD ministers recognised artists as professionals and as regional workers to be accorded “hassle free” travel and “freedom of movement” among CARICOM states.