Intervention The Senate

by Senator Fred Mitchell

On Select Committee Cultural Matters

At this time of Junkanoo, it is appropriate for us to raise a discussion about the resources that are put into cultural development in 'I'he Bahamas. The concern I have here is that while all of us pay lip service to cultural development there has not been a sustained effort by the Government of The Bahamas, successive Governments of The Bahamas to promote and support and integrate in a business sense the culture of The Bahamas. It is what Pat Rahming, the singer and architect calls it "the way we live".

In a previous incarnation of this House, 1 was privileged to serve as the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Culture. The principal aim of that Committee at the time was to hear from the various artists and educators what we could do to improve the quality of the way we live, and how the cultural development of the country could be enhanced. The second aim was to review the National Arts Council Bill and seek to establish a National Endowment for the Arts.

The Committee died with the last House before its more comprehensive report was written and laid on the table. At this late stage in the life of this House, it would be difficult to reconstruct the work of that last Committee but I think that some time within the life of this House the legislature ought to show the artists of this country that the people who make public policy are concerned about their views and seek to incorporate them into the public policy of the country.

You will remember in the summer Mister President when the Heads of Government of the Caricom states met in The Bahamas, the opening took place at a building that we all knew as the Shirley Street Theatre. As matter of fact the former Speaker of the House Vernon Symonette had us all laughing in our seats when he told us that the last time he sat in the balcony of that place before the summer of 2001, popcorn cost two shillings and six pence. That was a long time ago. The Government had the bright idea to buy this facility from the Bethell Estate and convert it into a National Centre for the Performing Arts. The only problem is that the building has turned out to be only a showpiece. Some four million dollars has reportedly been spent on its renovation and upgrade. The question we ask is what is there to show for it?

By no stretch of the imagination can that building be called a National Centre for the Performing Arts. The most recent performance there was by the National Dance Company, headed by Robert Bain, and the facility was dearly inadequate for the purpose for which it is ordained. It is interesting that most artists still choose to perform at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts which though itself is inadequate, has: a better forum with acceptable facilities for artistic presentations.

The Caribbean intellectual and Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies Rex Nettleford, always reminds us that nation building is not just about constitutions national symbols and fancy buildings. It is about strengthening the underpinnings of the society.

And in this regard while one can applaud the idea of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the artistic community is entirely critical of the Government for simply attempting to dump money at a problem for purely political reasons. There is often no logic to how they spend their money, and in the end the facility and the money is wasted.

And that is the case with the so-called National Centre for the Performing Arts. A lot of money was spent prettying up the foyer, but the air conditioning on the night we were there was clearly inadequate. It does not have a proper sound system. It does not have proper dressing rooms, no lighting and the stage is too shallow. There is no rehearsal hall,

In fact, it is interesting to note that when the Ministers of Culture for Caricom came to The Bahamas in October, they were hosted to their presentation at the Dundas Centre fur tile Performing Arts. Now that was a curious choice.

A National Centre for the Performing Arts is not the building alone. In fact it is more properly described as the body of persons, the writers, directors, actors, producers and musicians and other craftsmen that go into putting on a performance. These persons were not consulted when the Government made the decision to purchase and renovate the former Shirley Street Theatre. That in itself is a slap in the face to the community of artists.

But this is typical of the conduct of national affairs under this Prime Minister. One thinks back to when the Committee on Culture was doing its work. We were suddenly faced with a decision to buy a National Art Gallery. The Prime Minister goes on a trip to Barbados, sees what they have there and then without consulting anyone just buys this building. Now the building is coming along nicely it appears but it is the process of doing things. In its draft platform I am recommending that the PLP's position is that this building ought to house the gifts given to us as a country on occasions state visits. I have personally called for and I repeat that today the need for a national inventory on all gifts given to this country, and for a standards code of practice issued on the acceptance gifts by Ministers of the Government when on official business. Those gifts belong to the country not to them personally.

The Parliament has since passed a bill to create a Museum and Antiquities Corporation. I think that the corporation is discharging its responsibilities well under the able chairmanship of Craig Gomez. He and his colleagues have travelled across the world talking to various groups and advisors as to how best to prepare for the work that is being done.

All of those skills have been built up at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, and the proper thing for the Government to have done in the circumstances was to have invested that four million dollars in the training and education of those artists and assisted in the upgrading of facilities a the Dundas. It is time for example for the National Youth Choir under the able direction of Cleophas Adderley to have a permanent home. That home all things being equal should be the National Centre for the Performing Arts. But that building on Shirley Street is woefully inadequate.

With the pall of corruption about the Government at the moment, one wonders why the building was purchased. Was it to pay some political debt to a family that has always supported the FNM, or was it pay some political debt to those who get to manage the facility or to the contractors who got the work fixing up the place? The four million dollars spent certainly is not reflected in what we saw and see in that building.

And further ninety per cent of the time the building is empty, not used, just sitting there as an idle empty parking lot.

Some explanation is required from the Government as to where the money went and what was it spent on. On the face of it, the money does not seem to have been well spent.

The Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts has had its problems. In the minds of many people, it is considered an elitist institution. The fact is that it is open to all. But perception is perception. That perception was not helped recently when lan Strachan, the writer, launched a broadside against the Dundas for refusing to produce a play that he as Artistic Director of the Dundas thought had merit and the board did not. In the course of his protest against the Dundas, he said some rather unfortunate and ill-considered things. But such is the nature of the discourse in the arts.

What I wish to call for and what I think is that the Committee, if appointed, can have a role in determining the level of funding that ought to be available to artists, writers, musicians, actors, producers painters, sculptors and those in Junkanoo for training, research and development.

The Prime Minister at the most recent Heads of Government meeting in Nassau on Tourism once again reinforced that tourism is largely the economic salvation of the Caribbean region including The Bahamas. The question is how can our way of life be spread into the tourism product so that the efforts that we expend in tourism can reach deep down into the society.

One of the problems that we on this side have with the present Government is that they appear to want us to be content with being hewers of wood and drawers of water. In other words, we are to be happy because we have a job. And so we should be, except that what we on this side want to promote is the ability of people to work for themselves.

The question is whether this country is going to continue to be served by the artistic monstrosity that sits on Paradise Island called Atlantis or the Crystal Palace at Cable Beach, or are we now going to go into smaller scale developments that will allow the maximum participation of Bahamian craftsmen.

The fact is that there appears to be little room for Bahamian craftsmen at Sun International or at the Crystal Palace on Cable Beach.

You only have to take a walk through the craft centre at Paradise Island. It is a beautiful facility. It is run by the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, but the point is that there is hardly a tourist in it. And that is deliberate in my view. The facility is only there to satisfy a political demand, so that the Government is able to say we have such a facility. But no support is given to it. And Sun International is positively hostile to it. They want their guests to be prisoners of their hotel.

If you walk across the road from the Crystal Palace, now you will find that the straw markets there are centres of grief. The straw workers, some of our best craftspeople are crying that they have no business. And that nothing is being done to promote their businesses. It is a pitiful sight to see,

So it is the view of this side that there must be a positive interface between the tourism sector and craftspeople so that the money that tourists spend can find its way from the coastline to over the hill. Right now the Government shows no sensitivity to that as an issue.

The question of dancers and musicians is a matter that will be addressed more fully by my colleague Senator Wilchcombe, but it is clear that we have regressed since the days of the United Bahamian Party and the Progressive Liberal Party Governments. There are no longer any native clubs at all. The number of dancers employed in hotels has fallen dramatically. There are no shows with Bahamian content. The investment of Sun in the Jimmy Buffet show is an absolute disaster. 'I'he monies spent could have been better employed in the training and promotion of Bahamian artists. It would be an investment in the long-term future of the country. It would send a signal to the country that Atlantis is taking a different approach.

This would certainly apply to Junkanoo. I was talking recently to a member of the Valley Boys Junkanoo group who told me that last Saturday night he finished the last of 45 costumes that he was working on for Boxing Day Junkanoo. He is now working on the costumes for New Year's day. And I asked him why does he do it? Does he get money for it? He said that he does not. That he does it for the love of it and so do the two fellows who help him.

The police have told us in the past that the crime statistics regularly fall during the run up to the Junkanoo season and during Junkanoo.

You have young men and women who work many, many hours for no pay simply for the love of it. Jackson Burnside and his brother Stan, Paul Knowles and Percy 'Vola' Francis have all been involved in some way shape or form in trying to produce material that can be sold as souvenirs to the public, including the visiting public as mementos of Junkanoo. It is my impression that there is a lot of potential value and work in the promotion of that craft.

But again what the Government must do is to spend the money on research and development, marketing and on education of craftspeople. Perhaps the Chinese Government might help with these developments.

If you look at the resources allocated to culture in the Ministry of Public Service and Cultural Affairs, the Department of Culture: gets for its work $768,500. That is less than one million dollars. It seems to me that this sum ought to be increased.

And one of the ways that we can fund the arts is by bringing into being the National Arts Council Bill that was proposed. The Bill also incorporates the National Endowment for the Arts. The Government would fund it initially with a million 1993 dollars. I think that should now be two million dollars. And the interest would then go to funding the arts. The fund can then be contributed to with tax exempt status in the US with a view to further investments to increase funding the arts.

And on the occasion of this debate, I think that this house should be informed of what precisely the head in the Culture budget for the National Endowment for the Arts Means, since as far we are aware no such endowment has been constituted. And a National Endowment for the Arts with 25,500 dollars allocated is pitiful. What is this money used for?

There is an endowment for the Arts that was established under the chairmanship of Winston Saunders at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts. It presently has some $400,000 in principal. It is under the chairmanship of Sir Clement Maynard. The patron is Lady Edith Turnquest. The Fund is used to help writers, persons in the performing arts and groups that want to do performances and need help. It has helped the rake and scrape festival on Cat Island. It also assists students who are finding it difficult to finish their terms in school. It also supports persons in the visual arts, nor just the performing arts.

What is a positive development under this Government is the Magnet School for the Performing Arts at the Government High School. The School was established by the Ministry of Education. A magnet school means that a section is created within the school for persons with those talents. Persons do auditions from across the schools and get those students at grade 12 to come to the Government High School. It teaches music, drama, dance. The problem with the magnet school is that while it is good, there is no follow through. What are those students are going to do? Where are they going to go? What should happen is that they should be able to go on to tertiary level education in the arts and then there ought to have business opportunities for artists.

And just like the sports people have the capacity to promote this country and help with the education of people, so can cultural and intellectual pursuits. It is a part of what has been disturbing to many of the people of our country. It is that we must start being concerned about cultivating a culture of excellence. There are bright people in sports, and they must be supported. The PLP created the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture. That Ministry must be revived. Those who are dedicated to intellectual pursuits must also he promoted. Although the two are not mutually exclusive. You can be a sports genius and also intellectually keen.

In this vein 1 would like to among the first public officials to publicly congratulate Christian Campbell who has become the second Rhodes Scholar from The Bahamas. The first was Desiree Cox Maksimov. She is now a doctor. Mr. Campbell the younger is the son of Christopher and Helen Campbell. Mr. Campbell, senior, is a chemical engineer by profession. He is my contemporary. Christian is a third year student at Duke University in the United States. The Rhodes scholarship is tenable at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. This is a great achievement for this young man. We would expect no less from him. His grandfather is James Campbell a former and distinguished public servant. His uncle Sam is an attorney. His Aunts are educators of renown. Another Uncle heads a leading insurance company. Yet another is an ear nose and throat specialist. And Christian's case reinforces what we all know to be the case that we can achieve a standard of excellence in our country across the board. His father told The Tribune that it shows also that males can attain the same high standards of intellectual and academic excellence. And so congratulations again.

But we must encourage more of this in our culture. We must push the envelope. I was extremely disturbed over the weekend in one of my campaign trips, when I met a student who is 18 years old from my alma mater St. Augustine's College. This is a school that teaches the importance of one's participation in the cultural and civic life of the country. He comes from a family that has a history of civic involvement. His grand parents and his parent's generation are all involved in the civic life of the country. Yet he at the age of 18 is unregistered to vote and worse than that professes that he is uninterested in the subject. I could not believe it.

And one wonders when you visit some of our schools why the males in particular look so angry and withdrawn and anti-social. Some say it's the hormones. Some say it's the times, the disengagement of our generation from them. But what ever it is, this is not a happy situation and we need to take strong measures to change it. One of the ways that young males can be engaged is by involving them in cultural pursuits, either in music training or in Junkanoo. And so monies spent in cultural development will be well spent.

The Progressive Liberal Party will say in its platform that it supports National Youth Service. Some in the arts community are suggesting that they have the perfect way to inculcate a sprit of national service. There is the National Youth Choir. The National Children's Choir, the National Youth Orchestra, the National Dance School. Not everyone can get to the front line in these groups. These were all products of the last PLP administration. They have endured. But these must be more than ornaments for show at the time of visits by important foreign dignitaries. If we have proper training and development, young persons who work in these areas can eventually feed into these National Institutions. And that can be their form of National Service.

It is clear that these cultural institutions give a sense of wholeness. They make us feel whole and one nation.

It may also be that by engaging our young people in cultural pursuits we may be able to crack this gang problem that infests our country's schools. On too many occasions, I have had a chat with youngsters at high schools in The Bahamas who feel that for their own protection they must travel to school with knives and box cutters in order to protect themselves from violence that is likely to be done to them. There is the persistent cleavage between the Fox Hill kids and the Elizabeth Estate kids. And one wonders what they are the fighting about. All of us are in the same boat. We are on the dispossessed end, so we ought to be working together yet we fight over turf. The back must be broken of this kind of activity. It appears to me that cultural development can help in that area as well.

I would support a Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture again. It is my view that the Ministry of Public Service and Cultural Affairs is a misnomer. It does not have a natural fit. That Ministry should also have within it, a division of the copyright protection, with its own division of legal affairs, separate and apart from the Office of the Attorney General. And the job of that Department within the Ministry will be to assist the artists of the country with the protection of their works and defending those protections. It will also advise Government Departments on copyright issues. Because notwithstanding that the new copyright laws have come into affect, one of the main offenders of the copyright laws is the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas that routinely violates the copyrights of artists from The Bahamas without apology, permission or payment.

Last Christmas Winston Saunders' play 'I Nehemiah Remember When' was played on ZNS TV without his permission and without any royalty to Mr. Saunders.

Further, we are all aware of the song written by Fred Ferguson that was used by the Free National Movement for its last campaign without his permission, and all the troubles he has gone through in order to get the matter settled. Happily the matter is now settled. But there should not have to be a fight about it. The Royal Bahamas Police Force, for example, does the police band pay royalty to Eddie Minnis and the other artists whose songs they use on public occasions?

Mr. Ferguson says that he has obtained very little in the way of royalties for his song 'Look what you do to me'. It was extremely popular, yet he is unable to claim royalties because ZNS Radio does not keep proper logs. They allow individual DJs to bring their own records to the station and so proper records are not kept by the station of what is actually played on the radio. This matter must be investigated by the

Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation and then remedied. I intend to call Sir Arthur myself in order to get this rectified.

And we are also all aware of the struggle of Antoine Ferrier whose photograph was used without his permission on the Bahamian one dollar bank note and who cannot get that issue settled. We think that the Government ought to settle that issue with Mr. Ferrier. It is the right thing to do. And what they last offered is not acceptable. Perhaps the Minister might speak to the issue.

There is a strong need for the anthropological study of the country to regain some identity of the people who lived here and of course the people who presently live here. After the protest against the Clifton Cay development, it is clear that there is a demand for that in the country. Race continues to be the main cleavage in the country and it needs to be studied and charted and catalogued so that our public policy can be better informed. That is the same message I brought when I last asked for a Select Committee on Culture. Yet in this place when we last met, a simple discussion about race as a factor in the General Elections that we all know exists turned into an accusation of racism by a member of this place. She just couldn't get past it.

And so you see that there are many subjects that a Select Committee on Cultural Development can review. In fact since much of the work has already been done and it is only a matter of writing the report, this present committee can pick it up where the last one left off. It is clear that in building our nation cultural development must be on the agenda, not relegated to second class status. And it is in that light that I move the request for a Select Committee to look into all matters relating to cultural development with powers to send for persons and papers with leave to sit from place to place and leave to sit during the recess.

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