CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

A Potential Income-Generation Power Base

INTRODUCTION BY PATRICIA GLINTON-MEICHOLAS (© 19 January 2023)

The Bahamas National Motto “Forward Upward Onward Together” heralds the direction and manner in which the Bahamian nation should move. Are we there yet? In good Bahamian Creole, I say we ain’ reach yet. The rising tides of our economy have never lifted all ships. Low tides of equity have beached or sunk more vessels. A truer Independence should mean a shorter distance between haves and have nots. We are concerned today that thousands of young Bahamians leave school each year to slim possibilities for advancement. The ships of many will never launch from the bilge blocks and ways.  While others may bravely weigh anchor and leave their mooring, they are likely to be prevented from crossing the bar into the open ocean of abundant opportunity. Many will have struggled unsuccessful with 12 years of an academic programme. Many possess innate talents, but as the education system affords scant opportunity for developing the non-academic, many will emerge without marketable skills. Stats tell us that all too many will face joblessness or underemployment. Sadly, many will take the path of least resistance and end up as statistics in the law and justice system.

While there will never be perfect equilibrium because of differences among us as to vision and in drive to achieve, the engines of economic activity must fire up for a broader range of Bahamians and abilities, providing greater equity of opportunity. We are here to present an economic possibility that feeds on talent and skills and is relatively free of hobbling ethnic, age and gender bias, Our topic: “Creative Industries: A Potential Income-Generation Power Base”.

The creative industries comprise 16 distinct areas of enterprise: advertising, architecture, visual art, crafts, fashion and textiles, design, performing arts, music, photography, film and video, computer games, radio and TV, writing and publishing, heritage, software/electronic publishing and cultural education. UNESCO adds gastronomy. My husband and I have been involved in twelve of these areas directly.

With good reason, the United Nations declared 2021 the International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. According to UN estimates, the creative economy industries generate annual revenues of over $2 trillion and account for nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. About half of these workers are women, and these industries employ more people ages 15-29 than any other sector. Television and the visual arts make up the largest industries of the creative economy in terms of revenue, while visual arts and music are the largest industries in terms of employment. 

REMARKS BY NEKO MEICHOLAS (© 19 January 2023)

As we are talking about the creative industries let me start by telling you about what I do. I am a publisher, artist and photographer/videographer.

In 2022, our company Guanima Press Ltd completed writing and producing the ebook Masters of the Sea: Regatta and Sailing Tradition in The Bahamas for the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs. We also completed, and in collaboration with our partner Maria Teresa Butler from Mr Ingraham’s office, launched and promoted… I Say What I Mean and I Mean What I Say: Hubert A. Ingraham in His Own Words… the more than 1000-page first volume of the former prime minister’s speeches.

We are now very actively involved in the production of Volume II and preparing the online version of Volume I for electronic distribution.

In my role as marketing director for Creative Nassau, in June of 2022, I designed a crosswalk and photographed and video recorded several Bahamian artists and artisans for the North American Creative Cities Forum held in Mexico in August 2022.

Below, Patti talks about the need to inventory what we have in terms of established and upcoming artists and artisans in order to expand the creative industries in our country.

While I can’t name all, I mention, with pride, the following:

Master Artist John Beadle is the Design Team Chairman for One Family. Apart from his role in the Junkanoo group that delivered a solid trouncing to the other groups on Bay Street during the Christmas and New Years Day parades, John has turned his current focus toward sculpture, recently completing a carved wooden wall for a private home.

Master ceramicist, Jessica Colebrooke has blazed a trail in developing the ceramics industry in this country. In addition to creating works of fine art, she has for the past twenty plus years produced a line of teapots and ceramic ware for home use. Each year she has consistently expanded her product offerings.

Master artisan Barbara Jesubatham, has long been known as one of the leading straw crafters in the country. Barbara has produced work for several purveyors of authentic Bahamian merchandise.

I am sure that as you walked through this hotel you will have passed the work of John Cox. In addition to his remarkable fine art pieces, John also produces designs for a line of sports clothing and printed hoodies, shoes and t-shirts.

An autodidact, and something of an instagram star for his humorous clips, Daniel Belton has been developing a reputation for producing beautiful pieces of furniture with intricate inlay designs from repurposed shipping pallets.

Sonia Farmer has turned her passion for handmade books and paper into a thriving business. She acquired and restored several old printing presses. Sonia recently moved into her refurbished building on Parkgate Road. Her company Poinciana Paper Press has filled a very much-needed niche. In addition to her specialty books and paper products, she offers constructive, fun activities such as paper making, screen printing, book manufacturing and writing workshops.

Walking into Keesha Johnson’s workshop one can be easily overwhelmed by the sheer volume of straw items that she and her husband manufacture. Together, they have successfully stepped out of the mould and started making non-traditional merchandise such as belts, slippers, shoes, suitcases and knapsacks.

Just before the pandemic struck, the Creative Nassau team including Pam Burnside, my wife and I visited the artisan community at Red Bays, Andros. There we met master weaver John Grant, Norma Jane Knowles, Peggy Colebrooke and wood sculptor Henry Wallace. This small community of Seminole-descended artisans has long been producing beautiful work in their unique coil-weaving style. Driven by Pam Burnside, the Red Bays community recently set up their own website www.androsartisan.com

I must stress here that this has been a very, very small sample of the local creative community. We have a treasure trove of talent.

And now I want to talk about POTENTIAL… That is ways in which Bahamian creatives can expand into the international marketplace. These are areas, towards which, I hope Bahamian artists will turn their attention. Some have already dipped their toes into this pool, but I am hoping to see more do so in a far more substantial way.

Did you know that Youtube pays some content creators for the number of views on their videos? Imagine the income earned by content creators like Liziqi of China, whose videos averaged 30 million views sometimes reaching as high as 118 million. I live in the hope that one day a Bahamian Liziqi will rise up. Unfortunately, until the powers-that-be intervene, Bahamians cannot YET monetize their YouTube channels but even without monetization, local artists and creators can use their channel to drive followers to online stores where they sell “merch” like books, printed t-shirts, clothing, stickers, art prints, digital downloads, household products.

Thanks to the availability of the online payment service paypal.com the door to the international marketplace and the possibility of reaching larger markets was opened for Bahamians. PayPal will process your online payments and transfer your earnings to your local account using your debit or credit card.

There are online stores like redbubble.com, society6.com, teemill.com and any number of online storefronts that offer the wonderful print-on-demand services and a fantastic facility called “DROP SHIPPING”. As a result, artists and creatives can take their designs and put them on products of their choosing and those products can go from manufacturer to purchaser without ever having to make the expensive trips from the manufacturer, wherever they are located, to The Bahamas and back out again to the customer.

Even easier, istockphoto.com and etsy.com offer digital download services where photographers and artists can make their work available as digital downloads that buyers can put on items of their own choosing. In addition, many of the online print-on-demand companies I mentioned earlier will happily connect to an etsy.com or shopify.com storefront.

Just as a side note… Etsy’s revenue for the twelve months ending September 30, 2022 was $2.476 billion. I would love to see Bahamian creatives getting a slice of that pie.

As I mentioned earlier, although Bahamians cannot monetize they can use YouTube channels along with social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to direct an online following to other online services like www.patreon.com …

Patreon offers creatives the possibility of earning an ongoing monthly income from their fans in return for special access to their creative process and offers like books, t-shirt subscriptions, art prints, stickers, etc all items that can be produced and shipped by the very print-on-demand, drop shipping online services I mentioned earlier.

There are many other online services that local creatives can use to get their work out to an international market. It simply takes a little online research to find the most suitable.

Thank you.

FOLLOW THROUGH BY PATRICIA GLINTON-MEICHOLAS

What can we do to expand the creative industries in our country to secure a bigger piece of this rich pie? An essential step in building is clearance of the targeted site. We must clear away the mental and physical debris that encumber the field of activity.

Forget the old assumptions that only professionals are worthy of our respect. Recognize that creatives and creative industries can make an important contribution to strengthening our national identity and tourism brand and to building individual and national pride and wealth. Secondly, we must stop erecting empty Potemkin villages to impress visiting dignitaries but result in little advancement for our people.

UNESCO notes that current crisis is bringing the social and economic weight of the creative economy to the attention of decision-makers, triggering countries to reform their policies. If the powers that be in this country are so minded, let it be in a reasoned, orderly and sustained fashion.

We humbly suggest the following:

…Let us institutionalize and bring unity and stability to this fertile area of enterprise by building the togetherness of which the National Motto boasts, but we have yet to achieve.

…Let’s ditch the empty promises and shoot-from-the-hip, costly and shame-worthy hedging. The matrix of progress lies in reasoned visioning, honest inventory, registration, well-targeted policy and legislation. A department of culture buried beneath the heft of education and sports just won’t do.

Headed by a minister steeped in creativity, a ministry of culture is an imperative. The ministerial portfolio should encompass oversight of negotiations in and intersection with domestic and international markets, better response to prohibitive local and foreign trade tariffs and other barriers to participation as well as facilitation of better distribution avenues. A copyright law with teeth and a watchdog agency to enforce it are essential. There must be a formal, functioning forum bringing together creators, government, NGOs, private support networks, distributors, and buyers to collaborate in mutual respect and profit.

We need bias and partisan-free funding incentives, opportunities for coaching and mentoring, creative hubs providing facilities, tools, techniques, creative business training and marketing, competitions, and awards. Let’s make major Family Island communities centres of excellence for a different creative industry in each case. What about making the world’s best fishing flies a signature of crafters of Acklins where the bonefish flats are superb? Where are the education and training facilities dedicated to the development of creativity? By September 30, 2022, Netflix’s income was over $5 billion. The K-drama industry in South Korea reaped 1.2 trillion won in box office revenue in 2022. With this rich potential, shouldn’t there be beginners’ courses in our schools leading to degree programmes and state-of-the-art facilities at the University of The Bahamas? We look eagerly forward to seeing this as a fruit of Dr Erik Rolland’s tenure as UB’s president. We need a national museum and library, electronic, online searchable national archives, a proper home for the National Dance Theatre and an optimally functioning Performing Arts Theatre. Isn’t it time to decommission the Hall of Shame on Shirley Street? Of supreme importance, we must agree that good ideas should be held sacrosanct, improved upon, and made proof to the destructive winds of prejudice and politics.

We Meicholas, Pam Burnside and Rosemary Clarice Hanna, the Creative Nassau team, have already done a lot of heavy lifting in this regard. We secured membership for Nassau in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, linking our capital to hundreds of sister cities around the globe. We build relations with creatives and promote their talents and works through a radio show sponsored generously by102.9 FM Island Radio. We create documentaries and promotional materials. We maintain relations with UNESCO and the Creative Cities network. All unpaid in support of progressive and honourable development in our beloved country.

As our National Art Gallery notes, “The creative industries are a gold mine of expression waiting to be explored and to promote Bahamian cultural, social, and economic development.”

The words of Hubert Ingraham, a three-time prime minister of this country underscore the value of this still vastly underexplored land of El Dorado: “When coupled with good connections and communications, the power of creative entrepreneurial talent can be unleashed. Joined by sound public policies and a government grounded in a belief in its people and systems, human potential can achieve its zenith.” (HAI - Opening of US Departure Terminal, Lynden Pindling International Airport, 25 February 2011).

Thank you, and let us move forward in good fellowship.