Greater support is being urged for Grenada’s creative artistes, including those who contributed to making Spicemas 2025 a successful carnival.
Veteran parliamentarian Peter David, in making the call for increased artistes’ support, said they continue to face too many challenges.
“Our creatives contribute to the economy year-round through music, art, festivals, and tourism. The combined economic benefit deserves year-round support,” said David, leader of the D Movement, which is planning a formal political party launch later this year.
“One comment on my Facebook page really stood out to me. Papa Jerry, a respected artiste in our community, raised concerns about how our creatives are supported. He pointed out that too few of the people who produce our cultural content are benefiting from its success, and that no government has supported the cultural sector in a way that benefits the majority.” The comments by Papa Jerry, whose real name is Jerry Baptiste, are an indication of “something bigger” in the arts in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, added David, who is Member of Parliament for the Town of St George.
“Our artistes,” said David, “are still struggling with the same old problems. The government launched a $2 million Creative Industries Fund last year, but the application requirements — formal business registration, collateral — still exclude many informal workers. Our artistes had to crowdfund their Venice Biennale participation.”
David zeroed in specifically on carnival, examining who benefits from the annual festival that attracts thousands of visitors to Grenada. “Soca artistes boycotted competitions over prize money. We still don’t have a basic art school after decades of discussion. These aren’t isolated complaints; they’re part of a pattern,” argued David, a former Foreign Affairs Minister. “We talk about successful carnivals and thriving creative industries — generating tourism revenue, international recognition, cultural exports. But who’s actually feeling the benefits? Clearly, not the artistes themselves,” he said.
“I’ve been listening to vendors on the street who say they were not seeing the usual carnival business this year. That could be due to another set of issues that we spoke about previously, as it relates to US immigration policies and fear for even American Green Cardholders travelling. So, even when we talk about thriving creative industries, the people who create and sell that culture aren’t seeing the benefits.”
Grenada needs to conduct “post-mortems” on many societal issues, including carnival, David recommends. “We need post-mortems as a society. Post mortems where we discuss what worked and what didn’t and how we can do better — not just for carnival but for everything,” he said. “When people raise concerns like Papa Jerry’s, we should listen and respond, not just move on to the next event.”
According to David, “while Spicemas sparked this round of comments, Papa Jerry’s concerns go far beyond carnival season.” As a nation, said David, we must “work together to make sustainable change not just for carnival season, but for our creatives year-round.”
D Movement
You had tremendous influence during the Grenada Revolution. You have been a senior Cabinet Minister of the two main political parties, holding major portfolios. Keep informing us about all your failures to deliver.