Dear Editor,
I learnt from last week’s Business Page on the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport that there is a fund called the Arts and Sports Development Fund. I also learnt from Mr. Christopher Ram’s column that a sum of one hundred million dollars is allocated by the National Assembly each year for that fund.
I have been General Secretary of the Guyana United Artists Association (GUA) for the past fourteen years and on numerous occasions during that period our association has requested support from the Ministry, for GuyArt Fiesta and the Continental Destiny exhibition in Brazil, and as recent as 2008, 2009 and 2010. On each of those occasions the Ministry rejected outright our request for assistance.
Mr. Editor, both out of our dedication to the Arts and in the promotion of the cultural life in Guyana, we in the artistic community often endure great sacrifice to produce work for exhibitions. By the time we pay – yes pay – for the Umana Yana, ($30,000 per day) the National Library Conference Room ($10,000) or the National Cultural Centre ($50,000 per day), all entities which come under the Ministry of Culture, there is a huge, artistic hole in our pockets.
Surely, the Ministry of Culture, at the very least, should give such space to national initiatives at no cost and should assist our community by purchasing our products for the National Collection, Schools etc rather than have us begging individuals, friends and well-wishers to buy our work.
Now that we aware of this Fund, we are asking through these columns for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport to advise us how we can access a copy of the rules and process for accessing these funds and an indication of any specific or general allocation within the Fund from which the community of artists, painters and sculptors can draw.
We anxiously await the Minister’s response.
Yours faithfully,
Desmond Alli.
General Secretary
Guyana United Artists
GUA
