The recent announcement of the first batch of beneficiaries under the inaugural Guyana Fund for Cultural and Creative Industries (GFCCI) represents the end of an almost 25-year-long quest for artist Barrington Braithwaite.
According to Braithwaite, who is among the 16 persons whose projects will be funded under the GFCCI, he has been seeking to get financial support for the creative and cultural industries on the radar of successive governments and other organisations since the early 1990s but to no avail.
“As an artist in this country, if you don’t do the work yourself, it’s not going to happen,” he said in an interview.
He said his efforts were prompted by the realisation that most persons in the industries did not have the needed funding to produce their work or to recruit or employ others to assist them with their work. It was then the idea to get a subvention for active artistes or those who have produced work, began forming. “So it’s not like I’m asking them to give money based on an idea; I’m asking that money should be made available based on merit or what we do,” he explained.
However, he said the previous government discarded every proposal he sent in.
He revealed that in 2016, he approached Minister of Finance Winston Jordan with his idea of the subvention to develop the industries, particularly in light of some technological advances that have made it even more difficult for artists to access the expensive equipment they may need to do their work.
The minister reportedly told him to write a proposal for the government, which he did. He added that he was later informed by the minister that he was impressed with the proposal and would take it to Cabinet. A few letters later, he said, the proposal was passed in the 2018 budget.
A total of $20 million has been allocated under the GFCCI for the projects to be undertaken by the inaugural beneficiaries. In addition to Braithwaite, those benefitting from the project are Mohamed Handy, Errol Chann, Melissa Roberts, Gavin Mendonca, Keith Easton, Leon Saul, Lynn Ronnkvist, Leonard Colvin Marks, Ivor Marslow, Trevon Munroe, Michael Jordan, Carlene Gill-Kerr, Martin Massiah, and Emman Shand-Beretto and Shonetta Jonas.
In announcing the awards, the Depart-ment of Public Information reported that those who applied for GFCCI needed to provide a well-thought-out budget, including marketing and distribution plans, evidence of competency to perform the task, sustainability concept and sustainability plan, among other things. It added that all successful applicants are required to sign a contract to cover the disbursement and output schedules; marketing and branding; sustainability and termination or completion requirements.
Braithwaite revealed that he will use the grant to print his comic books, such as ‘The Anansi,’ and ‘An Illustrated History of the Pork-Knockers,’ among other things. “Children learn through graphics and there is no better,” he noted.
Despite having his work ready, Braithwaite said he also needs the funds to train and employ other persons as well, which is why he is glad to be the recipient of the grant. “I feel very good that I have lobbied and gotten the Finance Minister to respond to the proposal,” he stated, while adding that he is also happy that other creatives are benefitting from grants as well.
As a result of his present success, Braithwaite says he has been encouraged to express more of his ideas and he noted that the industries still lack a marketing forum to accommodate and to promote local work. So as one quest comes to an end for him, another begins. (Laurel Sutherland)
