The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

CREATIVE industries are an untapped resource for national development, according to gallery owner Pam Burnside.

Mrs Burnside, owner of Doongalik Studios Art Gallery, charged that the sector had reached critical mass, and was poised for a paradigm shift that could generate sustainable economic empowerment.

She called for solidarity in the region to present a unified block in the global market.

Mrs Burnside spoke to The Tribune in a joint interview with the Inter-American Development Bank on its recent publication entitled The Orange Economy.

A compilation of research on the economic impact of creative industries, the book acts as a primer to bridge the communication gap between creative professionals, economists and government officials, and the wider public, according to author Felipe Buitrago Restrepo.

Mr Buitrago said: “”It’s trying to engage in formats that are social network friendly because it was designed to provide a broader public with the elements for an educated conversation on how culture, how the heritage of the region, can become an essential part of its product.

“It is important that the people in the sector learn to speak a language that is more common to economists and to the government politicians, who need to have a conversation at a level that would allow for interventions on the really complex problems, that are necessary for this sector.”

He added: “If we give the public the elements to speak out about this topic, they will get the ear of politicians, of other people responsible for development, and influence their ability to answer to these concepts.”

Mr Buitrago will present his book to local stakeholders tonight at the Central Bank gallery, along with Mrs Burnside, who will present on the need to foster economic and commercial viability of the regional creative economy.

Her presentation will draw from discussions held at the IDB’s Creatives of the Caribbean Arts Festival held in Washington, DC last month.

Mrs Burnside, the widow of cultural icon Jackson Burnside, said: “It’s a paradigm shift, we’re moving the discussion. We need to start looking at things from a different point of view and using the creative people who are used to thinking outside the box, to be able to push it forward. We need to get people to understand that this is a totally different world we’re living in, and we have to start examining all of the things that effect us in innovative ways.

She said: “The creative industries, particularly the visual arts, we have always worked on our own and we have gradually built up this mass, this very critical mass, that is ready to go out to the world.

“We have all this technology now, we don’t need to depend on anyone to market us, we can market ourselves. We have to know how important it is for us to work as a block, because it gives us so much more power in the global community. It is so difficult as we know for the Caribbean to work together, not only are we scattered and it’s expensive to move back and forth but I think the Bahamas can be the hub to make this happen.

She added: “We could talk as one voice and it would be very strong in the global market.”

Tonight’s event starts at 6.30pm.