Dear dear me….what the hell is going on in this place doa? Is time people,…Is time..clock on the wall says time up !

My reaction to what is being said here is analogous to what happens when a highly allergic person is exposed to a very small allergen, it results in a massive reaction that is way out of context to the small sample introduced.
The bill that the government wants to implement is focused on a very small area of the entirety of the Barbados creative environment, and the Concerned Citizens Creative Group (CCCG), already sensitive to the Government’s historic lack of empathy to this area of Barbados activity, have, in my opinion, over reacted.
From the sounds of their letter, the style of which is way too diplomatic for my style of communication, the CCCG seemed to have overreached the stated objectives of the bill and, while their concerns are real, they just may have pushed the government into a position which has larger implications than what they were willing to get involved with.
CCCG’s enthusiasm for Barbados’ creative industry and it’s economic and cultural impact may have,at this time, created an unintentional barrier preventing them from actually achieving their goals.
My advice:- make recommendations that deal within the scope of the proposed bill, while at the same time laying the ground work for a more effective and comprehensive bill that will achieve their objectives.

@Antonio

If the expectations of the CCCG is hovering outside the scope of the Bill why can’t this be effectively communicated in the first instance by the Minister et al? Having gotten this out of the way talking points can be developed to build a win win situation.

Has anyone had a look at the Telegraph and the Mail? This Cultural Industries Bill is designed solely to get money from the EU through UNESCO. Seems that there is a very large press campaign against the grants in Europe. BU has posted the main newspaper reports. So, I suspect that (a) the Bill will not go forward and (b) even if it does, the money will not be forthcoming. I read the original draft CIB. Will try to get around to reading these amendments when I have the time, but frankly see it all as an academic exercise, as nothing will come from it and it will have been just as BAFBFP has said, with whom, for once, I completely agree.

Having spent a lot of time in fora frequented by local artistes and others in the creative sector the lack of togetherness along with a fragmented argument has made them a less than effective unit. Like everything in Barbados nowadays all decisions are political and top down. We need to involve everybody and it must be done in a way that encourages it. No patronizing!

Is this Bill really likely to become law in this Parliament? ‘Thinking about it’…’inviting contributions from the public’…..’next year’ …’when we have the report’……that is this government’s style. I really don’t think the CC’s need worry. Meanwhile perhaps they should get up a coherent package to present to the Minister in the next Parliament and tout themselves to likely office holders until then.

Like the Antiquities Bill BU urges this government not to rush this Bill through parliament to achieve a tick on a checklist. Perhaps Minister Lashley should park this very important draft for the moment. Continue to gather feedback and look at enactment after the election.

1. This bill will have a ripple effect beyond our own national borders because the CIB in Barbados is at the most advanced stage within the CARICOM region and may be used as a template for the rest of the Caribbean when it comes time for them to draft their own bills. Before the bill becomes law, we need to be sure that we get it right so that we, and the rest of the region do not have to go back to the drawing board and redraft.

2. The bill assumes that all creatives are inherently entrepreneurial and that all creative gestures have the capacity to become commodified. This is not the case.

3. A CIB needs to be supported by a robust policy framework to create a nurturing environment for creatives across all creative sectors.

4. Furthermore, the process for drafting legislation of this sort needs to be participatory and include all stakeholders. Development 101 tells us that a consultative process engenders a successful outcome and contributes to a more integrated community where all parties benefit and work together to build a healthy, functional creative community. If stakeholders do not feel as though their voices are being heard, then the fall out is bitterness, anger, resentment and a break down in the social fabric.

So Antonio, I do not think that we should accept this bill as is or make recommendations with in the limited framework determined by the government. I think we should all participate in the democratic process and express our concerns. Further more, the formation of an association or union for artists is critical because without representation, governments can do what they want. Individuals voicing concerns at town hall meetings is not good enough. Creatives need representation that is arm’s length from the government to lobby on their behalf. Being sustainable as an artist is extremely difficult in the Anglophone Caribbean. This bill MUST begin to address issues about sustainable livelihoods etc. so that all the graduates coming out of BCC and EBCCI have a hope for their future.

The irony is that this government has done more with the CIB than the BLP when in government. According to the Minister this government dusted off the CIB. What does ios say? The struggle will be long and hard.

BAFBFP – In Jamaica Wheel Up & Come Again is a drink! What it does for ya…well…you need to go to Jamaica, raise a glass and down one!

@David….The problem is always this. We have governments that because one states that something is wrong, whether it be a Bill or a road or a building, the first thing they do is jump up and play the “I did bettah than the previous government”…well what if that is not good enough anymore? Worse is that when one does jump up and say something…and I mean the people who vote the government in… the first thing is “hello there, it is decreed you are not longer in our good books and shall be ignored from hence on.” Get this Mr. Minister, this Culture Bill is not about you Sir…it is indeed about us. It is not about whether we like you or not, we might love you for all you know…it is the Bill we do not like or love. The Bill Sir.

All ya want to know what is moving around the country like the wind…a member of the previous government uttering these words that a birdie picked up and flying it all about de place, words that shows exactly what those who run our countries think of creatives “Man, dem got their feet up in the air.” Oh! Yeah?????

Personally I ent care which government did what…if it was a good move I will applaud, if it is something that is not good enough, I have a right, without backlash, to say so.

So this is not about this government or that government… and it is time that someone with some sense realized this.

Right now this is about US. The people. Those same people that governments seem to think will do as they say or else. We the people are talking here. And we feel we should at least be listened to and for once, just for once, given what we would like to see not for me, or you, or tanty, or wifey, or sister in law, or granny or cousin or brother or best friend…BUT FOR ALL WHO LIVE AND WORK AND LOVE THIS COUNTRY BORN HERE OR NOT. And right now the subject is the Culture Industries Bill.

And this Bill is just not good enough. Yes! The DLP decided to dust-off same…and it does not matter that rumours give the reasons loud and clear – the presumption that big sums of money were going to be handed out by the EU if it was.

But be assured one cannot just dust off a badly written Bill. The BLP wrote that Bill. We know that. Everyone knows that. But it was a poorly written Bill and made no sense to anyone. That the DLP then picked it up and ‘dusted it off’ does not make it then a good Bill…cause what was placed on the GIS website and is up on this blog for all to see, was indeed not a well dusted Bill…had that been a worker in my office, I would have fired her/him immediately ’cause obviously him/her did not use anything called duster…and even now when more dusting has taken place, as can be seen in the so-called amendments also up on this blog, there is still so much dust on this Bill it could cover the island like the volcano in St. Vincent did.

As mentioned above first and foremost a Culture Policy should be in place before a Bill such as this is even thought of. Then the Bill itself should lend itself to ALL creatives on the island. I personally do not see the big problem here. Both exercises are simple and could be done within a week. There is no rocket scientist formula here.

This group seems to have the country at heart. Just listen to them, take their ideas that are being given FOR FREE and just add them into the amendments and pass a decent Bill. What is so difficult about this? Does the word FREE frighten? If this group said “we will get your Bill sorted but we want a million dollars to do it”…would that then be taken seriously? I am sure they would not mind if this is so. Perhaps the words FREE AND WITHOUT PERSONAL GAIN seem scary. Perhaps FREE AND FOR ALL THE PEOPLE is even scarier.

This group of Concerned Citisens have looked at Bills from other parts of the world, Bills that work. They have carefully jotted down all the problems with this existing paper that all the governments here want to call a Culture Bill. I was made to understand it has been read and looked at from all standpoints and has been touted as ‘amazing’ and ‘well-thought out’ etc. etc. by those in the know not only here but abroad. Not only that… I even heard that the points address clearly what is wrong with the Bill and have been done with no ulterior motive but to see an excellent Bill passed, one that this country can be proud of.

So again, why just take the points, add them into the Bill and let the country move on and the creatives be happy within. OR …give reasons as to why these particular amendments are not good for the Bill. Something. I am not getting it. As are many creatives not getting it. What is the beef exactly???

If this Bill is not addressed properly then the creatives of this country will not have been addressed properly and will never be addressed properly. And a Bill should do this. It should address ALL it is going to affect properly. Not just one or two groups that have favoured a Minister. But ALL…every little single person on this island who is creative whether he be a musician, an artist, a writer, an actor, film-maker, heritage person et al. Even entrepreneurs – a word that has been so bandied about recently it has become tiring. WE CREATIVES ARE ALL ENTREPRENEURS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE US ENTREPRENEURS. WE HAVE BEEN ENTREPRENEURS SINCE WE LEFT OUR PARENTS HOME. GET IT??? WHAT YOU CAN DO IS HELP US TO BECOME BETTER ENTREPRENEURS, THAT IS THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO. YOU CAN OPEN DOORS FOR US IF YOU ARE ABLE. YES! THERE IS MUCH YOU CAN DO. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS YOU CANNOT DO IS PRETEND YOU ARE DOING THESE THINGS AND THEN DO NOT, AND IF YOU DO DO IT AND ONLY DO IT FOR THOSE IN YOUR FAVOUR… DAT CYANT WORK EITHER. THOSE DAYS HAVE TO BE, JUST HAVE TO BE DONE. OVER AND OUT.

Why would any government not hear the people who this is going to affect FOR EVAH…not just now but FOR EVAH.

Perhaps the Minister does understand what this group does not. Perhaps the Minister should really begin by opening the doors to them to explain what they obviously seem oblivious to. This group appears to believe they have good points so if they do not can someone please take them out of their obvious deranged and miserable minds? So the country can rest in peace? Geez!!

Creatives fighting the fight … I like Rosemary’s spirit, can’ tell a lie, but the charge being led by a group of White women many of whom soun’ either North American our British Public Schoolish… Oh Gad…. Bad politics, bad politics …!

@David…outta respect for myself, these pages and what good they do for all people in Barbados, I will not respond to BAFBFP.

Here in lies, the true Crux of the matter, this Minister is a fraud, he is wholly and completely left wanting, and has served little to no purposes in his role as Minister of the Youth, Sports or Culture.

He talks, throws out ideas, showers you with platitudes, and then does nothing, I am a concerned creative and I have had enough of this. I am not under an disillusions regarding the record, of this Govt, or Minister regarding Arts and Culture, not by any means, I am however sick of this Minister using such an important area that holds the key for the future of this country as a political ploy that benefits very few and continues to place power and the control of funds into the hands of Statutory Corporations and the Minister himself.

I know for a fact the disregard that this Gov’t has for those in the Creative sector, Sen. Jasper Ince in a Town Hall panel held at the Combermere School in March this year told myself and room full of creatives that we “Want gov’t to do everything for us, we never do anything, Gov’ts role is to facilitate, and ours is to do something” Needless to say this did not go over well with the audience, and I personally, made the ludicrousness of his implied statement known.

This Bill is a Joke and must be redrafted as one that truly develops the Cultural Industries, and I will fight to do so until it is.

‘aksing’ … HA HA HA … Pretty cool fah a White chick … HA HA HA

Minister Lashley the polls suggest that you are on your last lap. No need to take any more overseas trips, no need to make anymore useless public appearances, just hold your own company and bow out unnoticed … That would be a fitting end.

Lawd you got there before me…BAFBFP…you said somet’ing…not very complimentary but hey! to each his own.

@BAFBFP

Even if you regard the Minister and government to be lameduck if the plan is to run the CIB to parliament before it is parogue, you better speak up!

@BAFBFP

Are you suggesting you live on an island?

@BAFBFP

Understand your point but what does it have to do with government building out a policy framework to facilitate the cultural and creative sectors? You well know the cultural industries is comprised of many parts.

@BAFBFP

Trying to understand what is your position? What is the role you see for government to enable the environment for creatives? Surely you don’t believe that individuals brekkin for themselves is the answer.

@Rosemary

How was this meeting to which you refer convened?

Oh! sorry…yes…I was told it was convened by invitation only…there was even the list at the door…so if you wanted to hear about entrepreneurship perhaps you might have been turned away or some’ing. I ent know bo…these things does got confuffled.

Thanks Rosemary.

The follow up then is to ask who qualified to be invited to the forum this morning?

Was the media invited?

What is the goal of Minister Lashley here.

Who paid for the session and if taxpayers why the cloak and secrecy?

HA HA Rosemary… A change of name should buy them even more time. The current price tag on that bill is just over 12 Million dollars.

David

The gorvernments role is … well, well … Tell me, what have they done for agriculture in thirty years … There are number of instances where Government needed software to be developed (created), the Productivity Council, the Vat Division and so on and they sought overseas talent. Every postage stamp ever designed in Barbados was done by overseas talent. The Flying fish sculpture at our new air port is as a result of overseas talent. The statue of Errol Barrow (free education and all) was done by overseas talent, but a government needed a lawyer to fill the post of CJ and they bent the rules to employ a Barbadian talent. Is this position panning out for you David …?

A lawyer wants a contract to teach prospective entrepreneurs about Intellectual Property she is cleared for $30,000.00 tax payers dols. An Economist wants to engage an audience with a frivolous lecture on Free Market Economy he collects $25,000 for 45 min effort. A creative wants to launch a project, or acquire materials etc and requires $10,000.00 and you are looking a five months before a decision is made by a committee that is chaired by a senior public servant or lawyer that requires a business plan and spend outlay before the clearance is given for a fraction of the amount. The Lawyer will generate no economic return on investment nor the economist but the designer of the project is expected to…. and so on.

What is Government’s role … hmmm… they should back to f#ck off …!