Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.
by Alan Springer
The world has changed drastically since the BLP administration swept to power in that historical 30 – 0 victory, heralding much talk of developing a creative economy.
Having moved from slavery to colonialism and from colonialism to tourism, far from moving towards self-sufficiency, Barbados has depended perpetually on others for dear life but as a nation brimful of creative talent, we have the capacity to turn that tide.
Why we have not thus far done so is anybody’s guess, but rather than look backwards to play the blame-game, the aim here is to look forward.
Going forward, the whole area of arts, culture, creativity, and innovation offers a real opportunity, as never before has the discourse about the arts and creativity as an economic engine been more pressing than at this time when we have seen economies ravished in the face of COVID-19.
As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, countries are faced with several key considerations and one, if not the most pressing, is that of economic recovery.
All nations must now find ways to kick-start economic growth and, if those nations commonly deemed “developing nations” play smart, they can jump on an opportunity to shrink the wealth gap by implementing innovative and creative growth plans fitting of a post-COVID age. Clearly Barbados fits that profile.
The 4th IR
Going forward, innovation, rather than resources, is going to drive growth in smart nations as we enter the age of the fourth industrial revolution (4th IR), where industries rely less on physical resources for growth and instead look towards technological innovation.
To compete, developing nations must begin to view themselves not as poor countries, a condition largely out of their control, but rather to recognise themselves as poorly run countries, something that falls very much under their control.
Again, Barbados fits the profile, a country that, lacking in any obvious physical resources, yet can now hit a home run or two in this new model for economies, if we are able to run ourselves befitting of a modern economy in the 21st century.
The 4th IR signals a global supply chain to an international market worth $US multi-trillions, for example the digital economy is worth $US1.2 trillion (US Bureau of Economic Analysis – BEA). Meanwhile little Israel has gone big on cyber-security.
Whereas the big-boy nations will now be analysing and securing a fit within this new and exciting supply chain, it remains to be seen whether or not Barbados and other similar economies are smart enough to rise to the challenge.
Certainly, the starting point is not nearly as staggered as it obviously was pre-COVID. PM Mottley and her government have a chance therefore to kick-start a genuine catch-up game and not look towards further rounds of debt and borrowing, or at least doing so without a proper vision plan in place.
Art as Product
Trinidadian artist and author Rubadiri Victor once said that “We’re really shedding light on the fact that something that we should be investing in, is art. Contributing to thriving artists and their work really changes the economy; it changes the culture of a city, of a country”.
Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed told us that “The Creative Industry is the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in terms of business opportunities, employment generation, earnings as well as entertainment”.
Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid, born in Zanzibar and the first black woman to win the prestigious Turner Award, was once told that “black people don’t make art”.
If we are totally honest, the idea of black people as artists is not just scorned in the histories of mainstream Western art, this idea of “making art”, hence art as product, is equally alien to black communities the world over. And that is because by and large, those nations traditionally perceive art not so much as product, but wholly as serving a cultural need or purpose.
Therefore, we tend to “do” art, as opposed to “make” art. The distinction is neither moot nor a question of semantics, it is an important one when considering the growth of the economy through creativity and innovation, to which I am offering an address. In that context, the discourse therefore now needs to shift from the culture of doing art, towards that of making art in developing a genuine creative economy.
I cite the above persons because each could be said to represent nations that typically, would be seen as “developing”, and despite the thinking traditionally that art is nowhere near the center-piece of those nations as an economic driver, yet here they are engaging in a conversation about art beyond the normalcy of cultural expression.
The question raises itself, in Barbados, where the perception of art is more akin to a pastoral cultural pastime, who then is going to lead us in the particular discourse of making art as product? Who will write the vision and make it plain, who is going to draw-up the plans for implementation?
It should be noted that this is not a conversation limited to a discourse only in developing countries, nor is it simply new thinking post-COVID.
In 2019, research from Arts Council England found that “art and culture has overtaken agriculture in terms of its contribution to the UK economy”.
In 2015, the dollar worth of the Arts and Cultural Industries to the US economy was 10 per cent of GDP, in monetary terms equal to approximately $704.2 billion US annually. As a comparison, the entire manufacturing industry in the US is worth approximately 11 per cent of GDP. Can you imagine a creative industry that produces almost as much wealth as the whole of the manufacturing industry in a country with a manufacturing base as huge as America’s?
As far back as 2013 the British Council produced a report entitled The Economic Impact of the Creative Industries in the Americas. It had this to say: “The creative and cultural industries constitute one of the fastest-growing sectors globally.
The sector is forecast to play a bigger role in coming years. If the countries of the Americas are to achieve a balanced, high-growth economy, it is vital that the key strengths of individuals and businesses in the creative sector are nurtured.”
What COVID-19 has served to do is to speed-up the move towards the 4th IR, recognising that as resources become more and more scarce, it is the creativity and innovation of the human resource that will drive economies. This could prove a real leveler for those smart enough to grasp the opportunity.
Where there are humans there is hope and the one resource all nations share in common is the human resource. Though some may disagree, I believe that all humans are creative. I also believe this creative resource is a key to future growth.
It remains to be seen whether or not Barbados will be one of those who are smart enough. We need someone desperately to envision an answer to the vital question of the place of the arts, culture, creativity and innovation in the new normal, who can sketch a way forward for the new-age creatives upon whom economic growth will more and more depend in a fully functioning creative economy.
Three years into government, given that the BLP administration were elected not only under what could in all fairness be called difficult circumstances and were then faced with the horrors of COVID-19, whereas on the other hand the DLP has hopefully been busy with restructuring and rebuilding, Barbados is at crisis point.
Have we seen enough of the BLP to genuinely believe they have the capability to be creative visionaries? And have we seen enough rebuilding from the DLP to genuinely believe they will be ready come the next general elections? Are they really ready to rise like a phoenix out of the ashes of 2018 to pick-up the reins?
Of one thing I am certain. Having spent nine months in the trenches with Solutions Barbados during the last election campaign, and two further years with People’s Party for Democracy and Development, also including a by-election campaign in St George North, I am clear in saying there is no place in Barbados at this current time for so-called third Parties.
Third Parties just do not have the resources nor the stamina to take them through an election, sustain themselves for five whole years and then come again. Nor do they have the mass-base support to rely upon from one election to the next, instead they must build all over again.
That is a crying shame, but we must face facts and face realities. This leaves the two old parties, Bs and Ds, between now and the bell to show a winning hand. It is a new slate, let battle commence, and let Barbados be the winner.
Alan Springer is past spokesperson on culture and the creative economy with Solutions Barbados and People’s Party for Democracy and Development, an award-winning film-maker, stage-writer and director with numerous productions on the London stage, musician, published author and creative director of Front-House Productions, based in Barbados and London. He is an MBA, BA (Hons) Combined Arts, and a qualified and experienced teacher and lecturer, UK status.
