Plan to help artistes as nightlife vanishes

The disappearance of the entertainment scene as Barbados fights the COVID-19 pandemic has left artistes singing the blues.

With the island in curfew mode for almost a month, the closure of hotels and entertainment spots across the island, and the recent announcement that the 2020 Crop Over festival has been cancelled, the Barbados Association of Calypsonians and Artistes (BACA) is now working on a plan to help its members survive the slump.

BACA President Sean Apache Carter said in a statement that the current events have presented the association with both a challenge and an opportunity to step up and show its worth through the proposition of revenue-earning initiatives, should the climate allow in the light of COVID-19 and the expected cancellations.

Carter said: “These proposals will not only prove beneficial to our members but to the entire music fraternity. We have had cordial meetings with both the Minister Hon. John King and Chief Executive Officer of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) Carol Roberts-Reifer, prior to the arrival of this pandemic and our position remains the same.”

The BACA president noted that as the plans advance, the association eagerly anticipates working with both entities where possible for the benefit of all. He said  BACA also looks forward to the stakeholders’ consultations announced by Cabinet to allow for viable solutions.

With Crop Over’s cancellation, many soca and bashment artistes will be more significantly affected than calypsonians as they would normally perform at numerous fetes, limes and band launches, and tours normally scheduled for the summer have been cancelled, Carter said.

He indicated that until there is a return to some sense of normalcy, or what may become the “new normal”, all entertainers who may have been anticipating the prospects of the Crop Over Festival being postponed in order to mediate the fallout mentioned above, now find themselves in a dire position.

Carter further explained that the Soca Monarch and Pic-O-De-Crop competitions undoubtedly provide the biggest payday relative to an individual performance for many artistes. He said this will also have a severe impact on the many dancers from various dance troops who enhance overall performances and presentations in the competitions.

He said he also believes that soca artistes will be significantly impacted by the lack of private events associated with Crop Over as generally, only the top three competitors ever walk away with a profit in any given competition.

Carter told Barbados TODAY: “We represent a wide cross-section of artistes so our members are impacted at varying levels. One individual has found himself unemployed for the first time in 35 years and having paid NIS doesn’t help him at this time as there is no unemployment for self-employed persons.

“A few others have communicated that they are not sure how they will pay their rent at the end of the month or even be able to buy food when the current stock runs out. These are indeed unprecedented times. The entertainment community has been hard hit by the impact of COVID-19. This is three or four weeks many have not worked and don’t know when or where the next job will be.”

Carter noted that members who are part-time entertainers and have not been heavily affected by the pandemic are considering to record and release songs during this period of uncertainty.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb