I remain distracted by the knowledge that select visual artists were called into a meeting with the high-level official in December. Reality is, I am skeptical whenever visual artists and other creatives have meetings with high-level officials of any government, individually or collectively. Artists almost always need what these officials appear to have – the funds to support the realisation of their grand dreams, and artists and creatives often are capable of helping these officials sell their grand schemes. In the grander scheme of things, we can make a fairly accurate guess of who loses and who does not.
Creatives in Guyana need support and that is a given. We need support to grow our skills, to fund ideas that surpass the limits of self-funding, and for livelihoods that are focused on creating. But in turn, we need to push the envelope. We cannot settle into self-satisfaction. We cannot be so impressed with our own effort as to not push the envelope the next time and the next time. A bit crazy I suppose what I’m suggesting but I do so because I see that kind of self-satisfied attitude around me. In my humble opinion, this is how we as individual artists will grow and in turn, our community.