AFTER THE summer recess, the House of Assembly will resume sittings today at 10 a.m. with an anticipated all-day debate on the long mooted Cultural Industries Development Bill.
At the heart of the bill, which has been the subject of extended discussions among stakeholders and public consultations with the Ministry of Culture over many months, is the proposed $50 million Cultural Industries Development Fund which would be accessed by registered artists and cultural workers.
Cultural industries include those enterprises which provide the general public with commercially viable cultural goods and services that are developed for reproduction and distribution to mass audiences in:
(i) Arts and culture – the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, photography, craft, culinary arts, libraries, museums, galleries, archives, heritage sites, festivals and art supporting enterprises;
(ii) Design – advertising, architecture, web and software design, graphics, industrial design, fashion, communications, interior and environmental design;
(iii) Media – broadcast media, including television, radio and cable, digital media, including software and computer services, film and video, recorded music and publishing and video games.
The legislation, in the name of Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley, will provide for the establishment of a regulatory framework to facilitate and encourage the sustainable growth and development of cultural industries; funding of cultural projects; and duty-free concessions and income tax benefits for cultural projects.
“The level of participation was extremely high and the feedback coming from the stakeholders regarding the relevance of the [consultations] was good,” Lashley said.
It has been pointed out that since 2000, the creative economy was US$2.2 trillion globally and was growing at rate of five per cent annually.
But Lashley has suggested that the old economic model of depending almost exclusively on foreign direct inflows for survival had not worked in Barbados.
“We clearly need to try new things and have new visions if we are to have sustainable economic growth,” he said. “My view is that a crucial part of that new focus must be on the creative sector.”
The minister said the bill would represent a turning point in the businesses of cultural practitioners and the role that the sector would play in the island’s economic development.
Management of the sector will come from the Barbados Cultural Industries Development Authority to be set up.
Incentives are also to be provided for heritage building and conservation, including the maintenance, preservation, restoration or reconstruction of heritage buildings, structures and areas of historic or aesthetic, architectural, cultural or environmental significance according to guidelines established by the local World Heritage Committee in collaboration with the Town and Country Planning Department.