In an effort to protect the intellectual property of artists and to provide them with an environment conducive to creating new work, the Janus Cultural Policy Initiative, conceptualised by local writer Ruel Johnson, was launched at the Theatre Guild on Friday evening.
The project, which is being spearheaded by Johnson and Sara Bharrat, aims to establish “a comprehensive and functional national cultural policy regime in Guyana.”
Bharrat asserted that it is often said that critics are popularly known for pointing out the problems but never offering solutions. “We are artists providing solutions to the problem,” she declared. According to her, the initiative is a project, which “remains independent from Guyana’s political and governmental problems.” She said “in order to fix the problem that exists, we need to generate cultural solutions, we need to open doorways, by doing this in a culturally fractured society, we can generate cultural solutions.”
Dubbed the mediator of Johnson, Bharrat indicated that the initiative has three major components, each of which have multiple sub-categories—research and analysis; education and capacity building; and advocacy.
“We’re planting seeds in the environment which has long term objectives,” she said. “We will plant seeds
