Legacy of Slavery and Indentured Labour

Linking the Past with the FutureConference on Slavery, Indentured Labour, Migration, Diaspora

and Identity Formation.June 18th – 23th, 2018, Paramaribo, Suriname

Org. IGSR & Faculty of Humanities and IMWO, in collaboration with Nat. Arch. Sur.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES. OUR LEGACIES, OUR FUTURE1

Sandra Clenem.

From culture to creative industries: Concepts and definitionsThe Suriname we have come to know and love and which is now characterized by its

colourful, warm-hearted and welcoming people was not always that way. Instead, Suriname’s emergence from a decadent past was shaped by a series of convoluted events involving social, cultural and geo-political interactions and dislocations that eventually crystalized into the society we call our home. Of the many unique attributes that distinguish Suriname from other communal settings across the global village landscape, culture (the expression of a people) is unarguably most impactful. Our present cultural expressions represent an amalgam of inherited ancestral practices and cross-cultural borrowings from the blended ethnicities within our communities. Pregnant with untapped potential, if our culture is properly managed, it can generate significant capital inflows for the local economy from initiatives styled “Creative Industries”.

At this juncture in the presentation, I feel that a review of the major factors that have contributed to shaping our culture should prove to be both beneficial and informative and should begin to engender a heightened appreciation for the several components of our national creative industries.

Historians suggest that before the South American continent was divided into countries, the region now identified as Suriname had been populated by Indigenous persons from as early as between 8000 and 6000 B.C. ( Dr Andre Loor (2013). At that time the indigenous inhabitants roamed freely across the open expanse but six tribes were believed to have “settled” in the area now known as Suriname. They were the Trio, Akuriyo, Wayana, Tunayana (also known as

1 I thank dr. Kirkland Lopeze for reviewing my paper.

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Katwena), Mawayana, Sikïiyana, Kar’ina (Known in Dutch as Caraiben) and Lokono (Known in Dutch as Arowakken).

Early writers have identified the indigenous populations by several tags; Wolbers (1970) referred to them as “Indians,” “lords of the wilderness” and “clean creation” and in a manuscript published in 1907 and 1908 and written by the Penhard brothers, the indigenous populations were referred to as “Redskins.” The various population groups were called “tribes” and according to researchers each tribe was recognized by the dominant skillsets that members of that population grouping possessed. In that regard, the Waraws were the canoe- makers and the Kar’ina’s were the potters etc.

The indigenous inhabitants were a culturally rich people.

When the European colonizers arrived in 1600 A.D. they immediately set about dismantling the social order of the indigenous civilization which they described as being composed of “savages”. The colonizers desecrated the indigenous peoples’ sacred spaces; stole their cultural artefacts, precious metals and artistic creations; and subjected them to untold cruelty and dehumanizing treatment. Many were enslaved and traded as commodities to slavers and slave owners or were forced into servitude. However in spite of the vicissitudes, the subjugated indigenous inhabitants and other enslaved persons brought into the region by the colonizers kept alive their customs, cultural traditions and creative skills which they passed on to their offspring and others in society.

Cultural elements inherited from our ancestors include: hair braiding and other forms of braiding; woodcarving; weaving (clothes and hammocks); various forms of traditional clothes (pangi, camisa, shoulder towels and indigenous dress); home decorations; stories, storytelling and art (including the symbols that comprise the Afaka language). The arrival and assimilation into the Surinamese society of indentured workers imported from India, Indonesia and China increased the cultural diversity of our society and enriched the Surinamese cultural expression potential.

Over the last 25 years artists and cultural producers the world over seemed to have adopted a suite of new strategies for producing and vending their cultural renderings. Consequently they are now recognized as (cultural) entrepreneurs and those cultural initiatives which previously were regarded as components of the 'cultural industry', or were lumped together as 'art and culture’ have now been absorbed into the new economic sector which is branded “Creative Industries”.

According to Rutten (2000) the concept of a cultural industry was first introduced by the German philosophers Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer in 1947. Adorno and Horkheimer are also credited with having conducted extensive research on culture. Their research findings entitled “Dialectic of enlightenment” which was originally published in 1947, focused only on three 3 elements of culture however – the Theatre, the Museum, and the Visual Arts. They introduced the term 'Kulturindustrie' in their findings. There is no record of cultural industry being mentioned prior to the work of Adorno and Horkheimer being published.

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At some point in the development of the cultural industry, commercialism was introduced to this sector and principles of industrial production were applied. As a consequence of the introduction of commercialization, economic practices gained primacy over cultural value in the industry (Rutten & Koops, 2012, p. 222). Adorno and Horkheimer were critical of the impact industrialization had on culture and society because they felt that industrialization shackles creative expression when (cultural) products of industrialization are expressly made to conform to the specifics of standardization during production. They argued that this process rendered the art subordinate to the dictates of capitalism and further it negated the unique utility value of the goods produced. They also felt that Industrialization subjects everything to the capitalist system of production and consumption and strips artists of their independence. Adorno and Horkheimer felt that the failure of the Enlightenment Movement to transform social behaviour as predicted by Immanuel Kant (Gera & Faster, 2010) also had a negative impact on creative expression.

French anthropologist Edgar Morin disagreed with Adorno and Horkheimer’s assessment of the negative impact that industrialization had on cultural expression. Morin was more optimistic about the specific value of the culture that resulted from industrialization. Morin felt that mass culture was the main product of the cultural industry and made the following observations:

"A mass culture, that is to say a culture, produced according to the standards of industrial production, spreads by mass propagation techniques. Mass culture focuses to an agglomerate of individuals that composed it outside the existing social structure of class, religious denominations, etc. (Morin, 1965, p. 112). The cultural elite viewed popular culture with disdain. Mass culture first nestled in Western Europe and then spread worldwide”.

Others who conducted research on the emergence of the cultural industries included American communication scientist George Gerbner, Paul Hirsch and Nicholas Garnham. George Gerbner (1969) studied the phenomenon of mass culture. He typifies the rise and the development of modern mass media and television as an industrial revolution in the cultural domain. The application of distribution technology, enabling countless people to come into contact with the same cultural products is the sine qua non of modern cultural industry (Gerbner, 1969, p. 137). Sociologist professor Paul Hirsch (1972) who did some research into changes in organizations, had this to say about the cultural industry: “Our frame of reference is the cultural industry system, comprised of all organizations engaged in the process of filtering new products and ideas as they flow from "creative" personnel in the technical subsystem to the managerial, institutional, and societal levels of organization ". (Hirsch, 1972, p. 642).

Rutten (2000) observed that when the cultural industry gained momentum in the developed countries in the late eighties, the scale of the various other businesses operating in those countries increased in “rap tempo”. Political-Economist Nicholas Graham (1995) published an article entitled ‘Political Economy and Cultural Studies: Reconciliation or Divorce?’ in which he discussed the antagonism between Marxist political economy and cultural studies. He was of the opinion that that politics and the economy affect the elitist culture in the

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same way as mass culture and concluded that that was reason enough to ensure that focused attention should have been given to the development of a democratic cultural policy.

During the twentieth century opinions on whether culture was negatively impacted by industrialization changed. The change was partly due to an awareness of the specific value of the culture that was produced by industrialization and the acceptance of the fact that all such products are recognized as part of the “creative industries”.

The term creative industries is said to have first been accepted in 1997 when a Task Force from the British (government’s) Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) crafted a definition for it (however the term had already been introduced in Australia in the nineties but had not been formally defined). The DCMS defined creative industries as: “those activities which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent, and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. The industrial activity sub-sectors within which this activity primarily takes place are: advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software, television and radio” (DCMS, Task Force Report and Mapping Document 1998).

The purpose of DMCS was to help to drive growth, enrich lives and promote Britain abroad; protect and promote the cultural and artistic heritage and help businesses and communities to grow by investing in innovation and highlighting Britain as a fantastic place to visit. Their mission was to give the UK a unique advantage on the global stage, striving for economic success. They have conducted many mapping studies on the potential of creative industries for the UK economy. The idea for this Task Force came from the Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the nineties the UK was searching for “New Labour” which the government engaged in the creative industries concepts (Roodhouse, 2006: p. 15). With the introduction of the concept of 'creative industries' the British put a stop to the differences between economy and culture that had dominated the debate on cultural production since the Second World War (Rutten & Koops, 2012, p. 223).

The support of governments in fostering the creative industries is essential as governments control the policy implications of the industry i.e. create laws for copyright etc. Cunningham agreed that creative industries are connected to the policy role of lawmakers because he sees creative industries as “a term that suits the political, cultural and technological landscape of these times. It focuses on the twin truths that the core of ‘culture’ is still creativity, but creativity is produced, deployed, consumed and enjoyed quite differently in post-industrialized societies” (Cunningham in Roodhouse, p.18). There are three elements that Czikszentmihalyi feels that are necessary for creative industries. They are a culture that includes symbolic rules; persons that introduce new symbolic areas; and scientists who identify and discuss the new developments. Many researchers, including this researcher, agree with Richard Florida’s (2000) suggestions that all initiatives classified as creative industries should original ideas, knowledge and/or imagination, perceived by the creative individual to have economic value from which private income can be generated.

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Florida also suggests the initiatives creator(s) should be empowered to have exclusive rights to his idea (intellectual property) by protection under the law.

From observations that I have made over the period that I’ve conducted research on culture here in Suriname I have concluded that in Suriname and in the Caribbean ‘creative industries convert all the imaginative, artistic and cultural activities (mostly started as leisure activities in society) into products and or services that appeal to the consuming public’ and I’m proposing that this be adopted as a formal definition for the creative industries in our region. If one were to survey the cultural and creative landscape of Suriname as I have one would conclude that there are six sets of initiatives in Suriname which can be regarded as falling under creative industries by definition. The first of these comprises what we call Artistic Products and in this area you would find traditional costumes, decorations (wall decorations, corsages, padded buckles and other ornaments), gifts (personal items for a special occasion such as key chains, pens, candles, wrapped SOAP and oil), household products (table-cloths, pot holders, curtains, sheets). All of the various ethnic groups contribute to production in this area. The Creoles create 'angisa', koto, kimona, various gifts such as ranges, popen, coated tablecloths and decorations;Javanese: sarong, klambi, gifts, lined wallets, tablecloths Hindus: sari and sari attributes, gifts and decorations; Indians: shoulder cloths and native packages for men and women; Maroons: pangi's, various gifts such as key-rings decorated booklets;Chinese: traditional costumes and gifts (key rings, various techniques in the field of crafts; Lebanese: folk costumes and gifts such as key chains;

The second set comprises various forms of Visual Arts which consists of artistic crafts, visual arts (paintings photography, graphic design) and fashion (various braid works); Pottery and ceramics; Wood carving; from the Maroons:- Products made of natural material, such as wood, coconut, bamboo etc.; Jewelry and other fashion designs such as bags, hats, lined footwear like slippers, sandals/shoes, which are manually covered with fabric, embroidery, papier-mâché and other material;

The third set of initiatives comprises Performing Arts such as dance, music, theatre, street performances. Those are like the previous parts from the various cultures developed further and implemented. Some e examples are: traditional dance and music styles: winti (dance of a winti (spiritual guide), which reveals itself in the man; bv Aisa Apoekoe, kathak (classical dance from northern India), kawina; Baithak ghana and chautal; Gamelan; Ramayan, Wayang: Javanese shadow or puppet show, public Theatre (theatre is operated by the Dutch) and theatre;

The fourth group centres around Cinema and Audio-visual Media which include film and video, music productions, radio and television broadcasts, internet connections;

Multimedia is the fifth group and this group comprises digital designs, advertisement, communication, education, entertainment and festivals;

And the sixth group consists of Literature books and publishing (Print media co-ops writers, editors and publishers).

The fact that Cultural tourism is on the increase in the region is a clear indication that Suriname and the Caribbean region are creating an array of cultural products that tourists find

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appealing. Carnival is one of those cultural products that attract significant return patronage to this region. It is also a very popular attraction in Brazil where the Samba dance music and the colorful costumes are a big money earner for the Brazilian economy. The Rio Times Carnival estimates that it costs about R$35 million to stage their annual carnival events and the Brazilian Ministry of Culture contributes a significant amount of this money (http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/rios-carnival-2018-raises-largest-private-investment-in-history/).

Similarly two major festivals that are held in The Bahamas annually garner significant government support. The ultimate Bahamian cultural expression is a very popular street festival called Junkanoo. This festival is staged three times annually on the main streets of the country’s major population centres and showcases the finest traditional Bahamian cultural creations. The staging of each parade is supported by sizable government subventions which help to defray the cost of constructing costumes and indigenous musical instruments. More recently the Bahamas introduced a new festival called Junkanoo Carnival that combines traditional music and cultural artefacts with elements from the regional carnival festivals. Over the first three years of its staging the government contributed more than $40 million to ensure this festival a successful launch.

Festivals of various types are staged all across the region and in most cases government subventions seem to provide that critical support required for a successful outcome. What is also worth noting here is that these festivals stimulate robust activity in the local economies which profit immensely from tourist and visitor spending at that time.

From a cultural perspective, tourists are attracted to entertainment that offers a unique experience. And while carnival is a big money attraction in this region, I personally do not foresee the Surinamese society giving overwhelming support to the staging of a carnival event here at any time in the near future – and that is not to say that Suriname has nothing to offer in the line of festivals. We however are challenged to create something extraordinary that will allow us to showcase the traditional cultural expressions of our Maroon, Indigenous, Javanese and Creole/Black members of our community. This may require some overly generous financial support from government as is the norm in other economies where street festivals are used to stimulate local economic activity.

Creative industries: a business concept?If we look at the investments mentioned in the previous paragraphs we can deduce that

people and organizations are profiting from cultural products. That is one of the reasons why we have to look at the economic potential of the creative industries, for according to the writings of Ray and Sayer (1999) it is difficult to make a distinction between economics and culture. Sayers’ position is that ‘culture’ and ‘economy’ needs to be maintained in terms of ‘a difference between intrinsically meaningful activities, artefacts and relationships whose value is primarily internal, and that of instrumental activities directed towards the external goal of reproduction of social life’ (1997, p. 8).

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The economist Crijns, (Director affiliated to the national Office service in the industrial society for Churches (DISK) had much to say about the impact of law on social support and the role of the churches. In one of his discussions he explained that the typical businesses start-up process is similar to the way Socio-economic action progresses, which according to him, progresses through private initiative (individuals and groups of citizens); market principle (businesses and enterprises); or through the principle of public administration (public authorities) (www.rkdiaconie.nl). Once operational such organizations can accomplish their goals either by citizens doing business with the Government, which results in private initiative with Government grant (especially in the sphere of education, healthcare and welfare); or companies doing business with the Government, which results in semi-public companies (especially in the area of utilities, but also in healthcare); or by citizens doing business with companies, which result in private enterprises or small businesses. There are also other examples involving all actors who work together such as a mixture of private initiative, Enterprise and public administration. This concept is represented in entities like an insurance company, cooperative company or water board.

After the Second World War, the introduction of mass production through industrialization, revolutionized economic activity by ensuring that prices were kept as low as possible. Keynes theorized that this form of production has fuelled job creation and it remained unchallenged until the twentieth century when the Postmodernists Concept on stimulating economic growth was promulgated. This concept emphasized subjectivity, cultural relativism, recognition, and the absence of uniqueness and originality, and it became the driving force behind the introduction of mass production, mass communication and mass media to the cultural industries. This in turn established intuitional flow into the economy and the arrival of these institutional flows paved the way for the concepts of 'institutional turn' and 'cultural turn', in which more attention is paid to the role of institutions and culture in economic thought (Johnston et al, 2009, p. 201).

According to Martin (2000, pp. 77-78) the institutional approach sees the economy as a whole. It is not isolated, but is intertwined with social, political and cultural currents in society. For this reason focused attention should be given to the importance of research on the influence of cultural factors on the economy. The theory of the creative industry also fits into that picture. But before there was a relationship between culture and the economy in economic thinking, just as with the institutional approach, a ' turning point ' was needed.

From their research Ray and Sayer (1999) concluded that culture brings intrinsic value to the economy but Du Gay felt that the distinction was probably not so clearly defined while Pryke (2002, p. 11) cautioned that there was need for clarity with respect to economic and cultural distinction. Even a few scientists chimed in on this debate. Lash and Urry (1994, p. 222) argued in their book "Economies of Signs and Space", that the economic and symbolic (cultural) processes influence each other more and more and Lash and Urry suggested that ‘three developments in the economy’ show that culture has a major influence on the economy.

The first of these developments relates to the fact that more and more products and services focus on the consumer experience and association with the product and the associated

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lifestyle. The second development is the growing attention from companies and organizations for culture and the third development has more to do with companies engaged in the production and distribution of 'cultural hardware and software' such as advertising, architecture and ICT (Ibid, p. 223).

From research that Paul Rutten and others conducted on behalf of Creative Cities Amsterdam Area, they concluded that the creative industry sector is not like all the other sectors. The creative industry, which is getting more attention, according to them, is a driving force behind many broad economic and social processes. This sector is in many ways intertwined with other sectors and industries in the economy and hence has established various interagency relationships with buyers, suppliers and with staff (who switch from one industry to another). The phenomenon that we see is that with these relationships comes a process of knowledge transfer (Rutten 2011, p. 23).

Another researcher whose work has contributed significantly to enhancing our understanding in this area is economist Keith Nurse (2006, 2009) who is highly regarded by his peers and others for the research he has done on creative industries in this region and for the concepts he has formulated for the creative industries sector. He is of the opinion that investments in the creative industries sector can give a significant boost to the economy. Much of Nurse’s research focused on the economic impact of music and festivals in the Caribbean region. He concluded from export figures that music and festivals are the fastest growing sectors in the Caribbean and that the more investment is made in these sectors, the greater the chance of the ascent of the export figures. He also made the following observations and recommendations for the region as a result of findings:

- global creative industry predictions are that economic growth post 2006 will experience an increase of up to 33% (Nurse, 2006, p. 5);

- the Caribbean has significant abilities and potency in the creative industry (ibid, p. 6);

- Creative industry is an investment in the knowledge economy therefor the UNESCO recommend to “maximize potential economic contribution. (ibid, p. 18);

- Government officials and the other decision makers need to understand that for example ‘location filming’ sector does not constitute the film industry but is just a component of it. The emphasis should be on the development of a strong, vibrant local film industry that could then provide services and support for overseas productions filming on location in the Caribbean. (ibid, p. 85);

- Governments should create opportunities through policy on trade, industry and intellectual property. There will be a proactive policy should be set up to promote cultural diversity and to commit to investments in the cultural sector. This should be included in the bilateral and multilateral agreements and interregional conventions such as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) (Nurse, 2009, p. 19);

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- Finally, it is important to document the economic impact of the cultural industry and standards, goals and policy to employment, entrepreneurship, to promote industrial development and export promotion. (Ibid).

Nurse’s analysis of UNESCO statistics compiled for the period 1994-2002 on the financial performance of major exporters and importers of cultural/creative industries around the world makes for interesting reading. Europe (EU 15) was the major exporter of cultural/creative industries products, accounting for approximately 52 % of the market. Asia was next with 20.8 % and was noted as being the fastest rising region on the world market. Conversely North America posted a decline from 25 percent in 1994 to 17 percent in 2002 and this was followed by the “other Europe” which posted a 6 % decline. Latin America and Caribbean exports increased from 1.9 % to 3.0 %. Oceania and Africa together shared a 1 % increase (Nurse, 2009, p. 23).

On the other side of the coin the global cultural industry imports performance profile looked like this:- Europe imports amounted to 40 %; North America 30%; and Asia had 15 % of global imports; Latin American imports declined from 4.4 % to 3.6 % and also showed a decline from 3.9 percent to 2.5 percent. Africa stayed steady with 1 %. (Id). From the results provided, we can conclude that any activity in import and export relative to creative industries will impact employment (jobs) and the GDP in the related countries. This in turn can have far reaching influence on policy making.

Creative Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship has been mentioned many times already in this presentation so it’s only

fitting that we pause here to focus on this area for a bit. Entrepreneurship is one of the resources economists categorize as integral to production, the others being land/natural resources, labor, technology and capital. An entrepreneur combines the first four of these to manufacture goods or provide services. In doing so, he or she typically first creates a business plan, then hires labour, acquires resources and financing, and finally he or she must provide appropriate leadership and management for the new business operation”. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/entrepreneur.asp#ixzz5D9ump26M). 

The business behaviour described in earlier paragraphs typifies the actual behaviour of most regional organizations operating in the creative sector. This is a sector that I have done much research on here in Suriname and as a way of helping us to more fully understand that form of behaviour, a discussion on findings from my research projects in that area may be enlightening here. Let us start with the results from a research that I conducted in 2014 in the creative industries sector in Suriname. The title of the research was “Network Potentiality for Creative Industries Organizations”. The aim of that research was to find out the effect of Government policy on network-organizations in the creative sector and the economic potential of these organizations.

From the results obtained, it was easy to see why most of the organizations in that sector don’t survive or become self-sufficient. Firstly a majority of the organizations relied on grants

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and donations to run their organization and to maintain their operations. Consequently because the organizations depended on grant providers and donors in order to survive, there obviously was no urgency for them to become fully established as entrepreneurs. And lastly although more than 50% of the organizations were founded after 2000, most of them were not aware of the discussion going on in the creative industries or of the business opportunities provided by regional and international organizations for the creative industries sector. Those organizations therefore were also not fully aware of what contribution they were making to the growth of the economy.

In 2007, Hagoort launched a full scale research on entrepreneurship and from his findings it is quite easy to explain why most of the organizations in my research had not yet become creative entrepreneurs.

According to Hagoort there are two forms of entrepreneurship and he labelled these as cultural entrepreneurship and creative entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is usually expected to have a commercial establishment as its point of operation but in cultural and creative organizations it seems that often enough this is not the practice. Hagoort’s work allows us to distinguish between the two forms of entrepreneurship. According to his definition, Cultural entrepreneurship refers to leading cultural organizations which are characterized as having a clearly formulated vision; a high regard for the balance between cultural and economic values; and an established plan for how the infrastructure will be taken care of (Hagoort, 2007, p. 27).

According to this theory cultural entrepreneurs work within their own branch of the creative industry where they act as cultural producers or managers. As aforesaid, one would normally expect that an entrepreneur would have a commercial establishment but this is often not the case for cultural and creative organizations where it was observed that the development of the vast majority of these organizations did not conform to the guidelines prescribed for the start-up of a typical business establishment and that is why they are almost totally dependent on grants and donations for survival.

Hagoort articulated a phases-classification growth process for creative organizations after having observed that the business practices of these organizations was markedly different than that of other commercial institutions (Hagoort 2007, pp. 16-17).

From his observation Hogoort classified the first stage of their development as the pioneering stage. During this stage the entrepreneur toys with an idea (phenomenon), examines the possibility of a concept and then begins to explore the possibility of its actual development. The second stage is to turn the as yet unarticulated idea into a workable concept (the conceptual phase). Here the aim is to put into words the phenomenon and select which concepts are to be tested in practice. The third phase is the theoretical phase, where a need arises to sharpen the fundamentals of the organization, associated with a more explicit elaboration of how to handle the research methods

Although Hagoort’s description seems general and superficial, what we can deduce from it is that the process of ending up in a next phase is laborious, and because the phases are not linked to a time dimension, it is unclear whether the outcome will result in producing a cultural or creative entrepreneur at the end of the day. There is also no idea what entrepreneurship skills

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will be required to execute a particular strategy without restricting the entrepreneurs’ creative freedom. Hagoort’s format runs counter to that proposed by Adorno and Horkheimer, who argued that entrepreneurship requires a commercial institution, which can only be achieved within capitalism, the scope of which is profit maximization and where standardization of the products plays an important role. But in creativity or the creative industry as they say there is has little room for that. Government and creative industries policy

While there are many definitions for policy on offer, the one I have selected to use in this presentation comes from Ballack et al (2007, p. 102). Here he defines policy as the intentions, choices and actions of one or more administrative authorities aimed at the control of certain social developments. This points to (the role of) political guidance in the formulation of policies, a role that is different than the business of party politics. Public policy therefore is the way a society as a community is able to tackle problems in a manner that is satisfactory to the majority by creating rules that govern how members relate to each other and their environment (Stone, 2001, p. 18-21). Politics on the other hand is focused on wielding authority in the apportioning of goods, services and resources to the public. Lasswell (1958, p. 28) aptly captures this in his definition of politics when he states that "politics (also) is about who gets what, when, how much and at what cost”.

As explained earlier in this presentation, many cultural and creative entrepreneurs are unable to fund the launch of their proposed ambitious entrepreneurial undertakings without the support of grants and or donations. Most look to government for a subsidy or for assistance with procuring a loan from the Development Banks or other such lending institutions. Government subsidies are therefore very important to many entities in the creative industries. The German scientist Werner Pommerehne describes this mode of funding as an investment by the Government. He suggests that such grants have four values: - the first is an 'option value' where the individual benefits from the cultural supply; the second is an 'existence value which is a certain value assigned to historic buildings or art in the public space; the third value grants and subsidies have is known as a 'bequest value'. In this scenario, 'bequest value' is the value granted to cultural expressions, which should be preserved for future generations. The final value, 'prestige value', is the contributions to institutes or traditions that promote cultural expressions, to which a certain prestige is acquired and which serves to make the country proud (Pommerehne in: Mooijenkind, 2013, pp. 39-40). Pommerehne therefore sees tourism as adding extra value to the economy in the form of prestige value because tourists are attracted to subsidized cultural expressions.

When it comes to the question of does Art make a contribution to creative thinking in a society, both Richard Florida and Pommerehne agree that Art can make a contribution, and because the Government subvention assists with the creation of the artistic expression, the cultural sector also contributes to creative thinking in society (ibid, p. 40). Government therefore has a major role to play in the creative industries.

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Role of Governments History shows that the region’s economy was traditionally focused only on sugar, banana,

rice and rum and paid very little attention to the cultural sector which means that traditionally, resources were not allocated to (or poorly) allocated to culture. The exception would have been when the focus was shifted temporarily to the tangible and built heritage. To cite an example, Suriname obtained funding from the Inter-American Development Bank to rehabilitate Paramaribo (PURP) by way of a loan valued at $20 million. An extract from the loan agreement elaborating on the project profile is presented here.

The project seeks to contribute to the socio-economic revitalization of the city’s historic centre in order to attract residents and businesses back to the area; restore its cultural heritage value; reduce traffic congestion; and strengthen the institutional framework for its sustainable management.

Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital has 243,556 inhabitants, or 45 percent of the country’s population. The old town, consisting of a core of 48 hectares and a buffer zone of more than 100 hectares, in 2002 was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This concentration of historic and cultural heritage buildings and monuments as well as of urban sites has great potential to contribute to the city’s sustainable and equitable development. Yet, the area suffers from physical, social and economic decay, which undermines its potential and poses a threat to its physical assets and its UNESCO Heritage Site designation.

The program will renovate the city’s public spaces, rehabilitate heritage buildings, create new housing projects in order to offer renting options to a mixed-income population, and develop new business strategies with private sector participation. “The projects’ design will adopt a climate-intelligent infrastructure approach that will take adaptation and mitigation aspects into account,” said Jesús Navarrete, IDB project team leader.

The program will also finance the strengthening of the Suriname Built Heritage Foundation and the creation of key planning tools to guide the old town’s sustainable revitalization process. The IDB’s $20 million loan is for a 25-year term, with a 5.5-year grace period, at a LIBOR based interest rate.

From the above, it is easy to conclude that Government has an important role to play in the promotion and development of the creative industry. This means that persons, organizations and institutions should be aware of this role, so that if necessary they can tap into the possibility of obtaining subsidies for their projects. In order for this to happen however, that information must be available and accessible. Economic studies have shown that different thresholds may impede access to the above mentioned possibilities. Access to facilities that the Government makes available is important for the way in which the creative sector develops. The Creative Industry could not be understood apart from industry structures, labour markets and government regulations (O’Conner, 2009). Scientists Davis & Connelly (2005) and Valenzuela (1998),

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believe Government involvement is decisive for the provision of facilities for the benefit of the sector.

What should Governments do especially for Developing CountriesA close examination of this issue reveals that there is a market for the creative industries.

This market has a social network. According to Potts et al 2008, these social network markets are used to explain how value is generated and thus the value of goods is uncertain. It is the consumer who decides. So the value of those cultural goods depends on the judgement of people/ governments. What is important is that we can directly collect these judgements through internet and other forms of media including social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snaps). They produce new cultural and economic value and no activity really exists nowadays without a cultural program. Sporting events, major conferences and other such gatherings such as the World cup, the Olympics, UN meeting all incorporate some form of cultural activity in that they all start and end with a cultural program. We are talking about cultural goods that means that governments have to take the following actions: Design cultural policies: education, training and market; sign the laws that protect cultural goods: because of these communications models it is easy to copy those goods.(This means protection). We need to patent those goods. Claim what belong to us and what are our legacies; produce cultural services statistic data; provide investment and get involved in investment decisions

Because we have seen that many are working on creative industries also within governments, collaboration is needed. Collaboration leads to improved measurement of cultural flows for the creative industries. In order for this to be most impactful in the creative industries sector there needs to be collaboration between producers and governments as well as between international organizations like UIC, WIPO, UNCTAD.

Case studyThis case study is an example of a stage created by governments, supported by

government investments for over 45 years, and which can serve as a strategy for stimulating the creative industries within the Caribbean.

CARIFESTA is a well-known regional festival which attracts cultural and creative expression from participants drawn from every country in the region and is widely supported by intraregional government subventions. In 2013 the Surinamese government’s subvention to CARIFESTA amounted to more than 25 million Surinamese dollar (around 4 million US dollar) for staging CARIFESTA XI. This did not sit well with many citizens who felt that that level of funding was a bit ostentatious when there were many social needs in society that those funds could’ve remedied. To appreciate why this was probably a good move on the part of the Surinamese government, one would need to have a clearer understanding of the physiological underpinnings of CARIFESTA.

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A pan-Caribbean festival of Arts and Culture was first instituted in 1972 by Prime Minister of Guyana, the Honourable Forbes Burnham, who also gave it the name “Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA)”. Burnham inspiration for this initiative came from staging of "The First Writers and Artists Convention", which was organized in 1970. This Convention should be seen as a first step to regional integration of artists.

The aim:The lofty aim of this regional cultural initiative is (to create) ‘An exposé and exchange of

each other's cultures through creative activities, thus deepening the knowledge and awareness of the original aspirations of neighbour countries; Encouraging cultural participation and closer links between people in the region; Demonstrating the importance of art as an emerging movement in building a society; Developing our regional culture and its aesthetic forms which carry the culture’ (CARIFESTA, 1976, p. 5).

After many discussions based on a strategic CARIFESTA plan produced by Keith Nurse on behalf of the Caribbean the vision and the mission of CARIFESTA were agreed.The vision was formulated as follows:To position CARIFESTA as a world-renowned, hallmark festival of Caribbean cultural and artistic excellence, that generates economic benefits, unites the Region and excites all peoples (CARICOM, 2004, p.2). CARIFESTA was expected grow into a revenue generating festival that offers excellent Caribbean culture.

The mission: To stage a mega multidisciplinary roving Festival that develops Caribbean Arts and Culture (Id). CARIFESTA is the regional stage for the development of art and culture in the Caribbean.

CARIFESTA can be quite beneficial to the region in other ways as well as those touted in the instruments of formation and association. It can serve principally as a barometer for measuring business growth rate in and around the Caribbean and it can serve as a forum for Cultural producers to learn from each other. However in order for CARIFESTA to be all that it can be for the region, it needs to be provided with the requisite tools, resources, technical support and infrastructure that will allow this to be accomplished straight across the region. A successful CARIFESTA requires full support from regional policy makers, hence the need for heightened governmental involvement at the fore. The private sectors contribution to this initiative also needs to be reassessed with a view to forming better and more durable linkages here and increasing investments in culture.

The paradoxThe creative industry sees a paradox here. The industry focuses on promoting and

marketing of cultural products, but protective measures relating to copyright and patents are not effectively enforced. The rate of acquisition and exploitation of cultural expressions by a third party, often at the expense of the creator of those expressions, is high and discourages creators from wanting to work for the further development of the creative industry.

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ClosingIt is hoped this presentation will have achieved its intended purpose of alerting all

producers, artisans, entrepreneurs, business organizations, governments and multinational corporations to the fact the that creative industries have increasing economic potential for emerging and developed economies and for creating stronger more progressive societies in our region of the global village. They promise wealth, new jobs and employment; they contribute to the GDP/BNP of our individual countries; and most of all for us from the Caribbean and Latin America the creative industries have made us now more aware of the obvious appeal to the travelling world of our special and unique cultural renditions.

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GlossaryCraft and artisanal products: produced by artisans, either completely by hand or with the hand of hand-tools or even mechanical means, as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the substantial component of the finished product.. The special nature of artisanal products derives from their distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative, culturally attached, decorative, functional, functional, traditional, religiously, socially symbolic and significant. (UNESCO-UIS, 2009 and ITC, 1997).

Cultural goods: Consumer good conveying ideas, symbols and way of life, i.e. books, magazines, multimedia products, recordings, software, films and video, audiovisual programmes, crafts and fashion. (UNESCO-UIS, 2009).

Cultural heritage: Includes artefacts, monuments, a group of buildings and sites that have diversity of values including symbolic, historic, artistic, aesthetic, ethnological and anthropological, scientific and social significance. (UNESCO-UIC, 2009).

Design: Consist of units mainly engaged in the creative, artistic and aesthetic design of objects, environments and services. (UNESCO-UIC, 2009).

Performing Arts and Celebrations: Refers to professional of amateur performing arts activities such as theatre, dance, opera and puppetry, as well as the celebration of cultural events (festival, feast and fairs), which occur locally and can be informal in nature. (UNESCO-UIC, 2009).

Visual arts: Arts which appeal primarily to the visual sense; they are art forms that focus on creation of works, which are primarily visual in nature, or are multidimensional objects. (UNESCO-UIC, 2009).

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