From l-r: Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain; Technical Coordinator for Policy Development and Culture, Ruel Johnson; Founders of Potsalt Media, Jay Carter and Gabriella Chapman; Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport, Charles Ramson; MCYS Permanent Secretary, Melissa Tucker; and National Events Coordinator, Andrew Tyndall. (A Director Jones photo)
In a country that is as culturally diverse and creatively blessed as Guyana, Culture and Creative Industries will undoubtedly pose competition to other industries for the top ranking spot as the most impactful economic sector. In fact, what is as equally important, is that Creative Industries play a crucial role in building much-needed social cohesion and cultural inclusion, especially in developing countries.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr.He acknowledged that Guyana has always been home to talented people, but explained that in the past, more attention was given to internal talent development and honing personal skills, instead of the business side of that talent and skill. “…and that’s why you tend to see that despite some people being amazingly talented, they have not been able to monetise that into a sustainable version, where it gives them a higher level of income,” he posited.
This, Minister said, is where the shift has to happen in order to create sustainability within the industry and the Creative Industries Grant was created with an approach that has a deliberate focus to counter this, shifting the “pendulum of that perspective” by creating an alumni with a plan “that is intended to be a viable and sustainable benefit for the society.”
Elaborating on the alumni, Minster explained that a successful industry cannot be created through individual talents functioning in isolation, but rather, through a collective approach of merging the talents. As such, grantees have an obligation to assist each other, and as more grantees enter the alumni annually, it creates a larger and larger group that is committed to the upliftment of Guyana’s culture and creating a lasting legacy for our society, through the transferral of skills and knowledge to the younger generation of grantees entering the alumni.
It was also mentioned that the grantees will benefit from opportunities that match their skillset, as the Minister is looking forward to working with these unique Guyanese talents and meetings and working sessions will be conducted to explore areas of collaboration.
In addition, Minister Ramson stressed the importance of inclusivity and diversity, as the ultimate goal is to “knit the country together” – “a goal that is so important in a way that is not ephemeral, not transient, it’s lasting, meaningful… I cannot stress that enough. I want to emphasise that a lot because it is the invisible fabric that binds us together is our culture. Everything that we know and love about being authentic Guyanese, comes from that invisible fabric of our culture,” he said.
Exemplifying this, taking a three-fold definition of inclusivity and diversity, the grantees represented people from across Guyana, “which shows it is not just diversity in appearance and diversity in projects, but also diversity in the locations. All of which combines into the creation of this invisible fabric called our culture, uniting our people, called Guyanese people,” Minister stated.
Some of the other grantees of the 2022 cohort who were awarded on Wednesday
