The local saying, “What don’t kill does fatten,” clicked recently. This aptly describes enduring and succeeding despite challenging circumstances. I am thinking about how tough one has to be to endeavour the arts as a principal livelihood in places like Guyana with minimal enabling structures and systems for artists, artistes, and creatives to tap into. And it seems there is always a critic. Fair enough, I suppose. After all, we are all entitled to our opinion. Too often the critics have minimal or no qualifying background but confidence in their assertions and perhaps even position to pronounce on things. Insufficiently informed critics with platforms make a frightful combination, which is not surprising. There is minimal arts education – a lot of STEM but not enough STEAM.
