GOVERNMENT MUST CONSULT ARTISTS!!!

AN OVERVIEW OF THE CRISIS

The government of Trinidad& Tobago is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to convince you the public that its current- almost $4billion- spend on cultural institutions will benefit the arts and culture of Trinidad & Tobago

However thousands of artist and communities from across the land have been voicing their total displeasure with how government has proceeded with its intent to build and also have major problems with the facilities themselves

Trinbago artists and communities have lobbied governments for 45 years for common-sense legislation and basic infrastructural needs.

2 generations have died without seeing 1 of these granted. Cultural work in this country is conducted against some of the most backward physical and legislative infrastructure in the Westernised world.

Despite this T&T artists have won multiple Hollywood and Bollywood Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, NAACP and BET awards, Nobel Prizes, Commonwealth Book prizes, world records and created one of the most vital creative cultures in the world. Many have to leave to fulfill their potential.

Suddenly this government announced plans to build $4 Billion worth of long demanded institutions. Artists welcome this move! The problem is that architectural plans, contractors, treaties and labour have been approved behind closed doors without any meaningful stakeholder consultation. Despite widespread dissatisfaction and many requests the Ministry has ignored all calls for forums of consultation. Artists are now locked out of the very buildings they have been fighting for for over 4 decades!

The government plans to build:
· A $700 Million (now $480M) Carnival Centre in the Savannah
· 2 National Performing Arts Centres
· 3 Arts Academies
· 90 Community Centres
· A National Archives Building

Artist’s problems with government’s actions and building plans are as follows:

1. Artists are not complaining for complaining sake. We want these buildings, we fought for them- but they must be built properly! A badly built building is worse than none at all. The process of building these facilities is as important as the buildings themselves. Stakeholders who have expertise as regards architectural specs, equipment choices, institutional programming and more have not been consulted. Government has no record of building proper purpose built buildings for the Arts. Witness their sub-standard ideas of what constitutes a community centre.

2. Government has zero plans for the Administration, Maintenance and Sustainability of these buildings. This country does not have qualified administrators- witness the under-utilisation of all our stadia. Qualified administrators have very specialized skills on how to manage billion dollar facilities Artists have asked government to provide more than 100 transparent scholarships for Institutional Administrators to run the facilities.


3. Artists also ask: during the 4 years that $5 B will be invested in concrete and steel, what will government’s investment in creative people be? The Arts in T&T are notoriously under-funded and done in a vicki-vye manner. For instance, after much artist lobbying, government finally adopted 1 cultural sector industry- Film- as one of 7 sectors to be fast-tracked in the economy’s diversification. The subvention for the entire Film Industry(!)- the meager sum of $6M- the equivalent of the catering budget on a small American film.

4. Artist are thus renewing the call for government to establish a National Grant Fund or Foundation from which worthy groups and individuals can apply for funding for qualifying projects..


5. Government is also spending billions on cultural concrete without a National Cultural Policy. The Ministry urgently needs to finally reveal the long demanded National Cultural Policy which will serve as an intellectual guide- not only to these buildings- but that will enshrine the protocols of the operation of the cultural industry.

6. Government’s mega project spend ignores one of the most significant facts of our present reality- that T&T’s Golden Age generation now aged 70 and over- is passing on. In the 4 years that these buildings would take to be completed most of that generation would have died. Government has no parallel plans to document, honour or house the Legacy of this generation to gift it back to the nation. In 4 years time we then would have buildings- but no Legacy to house in them. This Legacy must be collected in the next 4 years or all fall down! This Legacy must also be architecturally enshrined within the DNA of these buildings.

7. Communities like Laventille are collapsing because governments invested $0 in the cultural infrastructure of the community over 40 years! Yet Laventille, SE POS and Belmont are the birthplace of pan, mas and calypso- the holy Trinity of Carnival. T&T’s Carnival is now a global US $20 Billion industry. None of its birth communities benefit from that. These communities also showed the way that gangs could become musical orchestras! Properly built these facilities can reverse the negative trends and point the way to the financial and spiritual rescue of many communities and the country. Gangs can again be turned into orchestras, musicians, sportsmen, civic leaders, scholars and more.

Since government announced these projects artist have clamoured for proper stakeholder consultation and participation in decision making. An artist letter requesting an urgent meeting was sent to the Ministry of Culture and cc:ed to UDECOTT on Monday 6th March 2006. That letter had over 25 signatories including 3 ex-Directors of Culture, an ex-Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Culture, 3 senior artist and 10 stakeholder groups. The call was renewed through letters, phone contact and visits. The request for dialogue has been ignored.

Despite widespread stakeholder dis-satisfaction construction is to begin on the National Academy on Princes Building Grounds and the Savannah Carnival Centre

Artists have received support for their stand from groups and individuals from all over the planet. Locally a number of professional associations have all expressed serious concern with government’s actions. Until government brings all the stakeholders to the table as partners calls will only increase.


IN CLOSING

We artists believe that the cultural institutions will be the most important buildings to be built in this country- if built properly. They will provide the most permanent fulfilling jobs; will rescue communities; and will generate the most positive public profiles for the country globally. They will be the very Memory of the nation. Two generations of our elders have died without seeing them built. In their name we cannot and will not allow them to be built badly.

These cultural institutions are not government’s bright idea- they were fought for by the very people who are now locked out of their planning. Built badly and with bad intent they will be white elephants or just wasteful; built with integrity they will be Wonders of the World.

CONSULT WITH ARTIST, LET THE NATION PARTICIPATE IN DECISION MAKING AND POLICY AND GET THE VISION RIGHT!