I was forced to write this letter as a result of some institutional practices which I have been the victim of. I ask that you take some time to read and try to understand my state of mind and the stance I have chosen to take.
Due to occurrences at the Department of Festival and Creative Arts, I choose to desist from assisting with activities which do not pertain to my coursework.
In the second semester of my first year in the theatre arts course, my classmates in the Production 1B course were requested to assist in various functions as the crew for the department’s annual production which, for the said year, was titled Bitter Cassava. This was part of our coursework and I chose to be on the lighting team. Aside from this function, there was a need for photography and headshots for the production’s display board and for the show’s programme. I was the second or third person to be asked to provide photography for the cast. In the end, I turned out to be the main photographer for the show as most of my photos were used. There was no payment involved for this service.
In my second year it was my turn to be on stage as a member of cast in the production entitled Fragments. This was for the Production 2 course which is a mandatory course. In that production I had three very distinct and prominent roles to play. Based on the positive feedback for my photography in the last production, I was asked again to do the photography - for my entire cast. Yet again there was no payment involved for the service.
This year my Performance 1 class was ‘kinda asked’ to help out with this year’s production, March to Caroni. The class was not part of the regular rehearsals but is assisting with acting out certain scenes that do not require dialogue. The class does not receive any regular credits, co-curricular credits or otherwise for participation in this production. I was asked play the role of a policeman but someone else took up the role. I asked my lecturer what else I could assist with and was told that the properties person for the scenes outside of the Learning Resource Centre needed assistance so I should help them. Before the run of the show, I was asked to take pictures for the display. I obliged and for two nights before the dress rehearsal I went in and took photos. On the night of the opening, I was asked if I had my camera and if I could take photos of the dignitaries who came out to the show. Since I was assisting in another capacity, I lent my camera to one the staff of DCFA to administer accordingly and I hustled off to do ‘my job’.
The following day, while I was trying to prepare the photographs, the properties person asked if I was assisting them again that night and expressed that he liked how I worked the previous night. I took over 200 photos in those two nights and did not finish editing the photos. The operations (for props) for that night’s show went even smoother than the first. On my way home I got a barrage of thoughts and got mad at myself and at DCFA for the many things that transpired in the present and in my tenure at the university. It was indeed a ‘eureka’ moment and I will outline why:
- WHY was I being asked to do this additional job function without payment? This is not the first year DCFA has been staging an event and in our FIRST class in the Production 1A course we were taught that when staging any event, we must outline a comprehensive budget. Why was my photography sought, used and not paid for? There would obviously be the argument that I never asked for any payment and this is definitely my fault. In the heat of the moment; coursework and a million lines to remember and duties to get done, a desire to be credited with doing good work on stage and off stage, and just my ‘let’s get it done’ mindset, this was not even a thought. This was my error and I paid for it. However, what does this say for the department? I understand that the department runs on a tight budget but if there is a venture like this annually at the same time, why are efforts not made to ensure that there is a budget that can accommodate all the expenditure necessary for the smooth running of a production that does not disguise itself? There is sponsorship and various fundraising activities which the department can undertake in the lead up to the event.
- This leads to another point of contention, which is that these scenarios are taught at the Department of Festival and Creative Arts: Introduction to Business for the Arts, Festival and Event Management, Enterprise Internship for the Arts. What is the use of teaching these courses if we cannot apply them for our own benefit?
- Then the other situation is that after we attend the institution and learn all these skills and the theory behind them, whether it is via mandatory coursework or otherwise, what mechanism measures the marketability of the skills? How do we qualify our skills? How do we measure what we are worth? If we are constantly being asked to do work for free in an environment that always looks to get things done for free in a society that often poorly pays artists or asks them to work for free, then what is the point of the courses?
- As far as I see, most of the courses offered in these artistic disciplines are the most physically challenging in all of the university, yet at the same time it is still expected that paperwork of a tertiary education standard be submitted concurrently. The arts industry in Trinidad and Tobago does not have a clear cut ‘measuring stick’ to say what a lighting technician, a makeup artist, a photographer, a costuming assistant or a properties assistant is worth but we do know that they are worth something. That something should translate into a meaningful way to sustain a lifestyle. As tutors and staff of the department, salaries will be paid whether or not there is involvement in a production, but what about the people who do not have steady employment and whose skills are their tools for sustenance? This is the institution which should teach and demand that people get properly rewarded for their participation in this industry around which the world revolves. Shouldn’t we know how to be an artist-in-business in this billion dollar global industry? What are we really worth?
For these reasons I have made my choice. I understand that I risk being blacklisted or brushed aside whenever a photography situation may arise, but again this is a choice I must make. Maybe getting someone with a point-and-shoot camera would suffice. The images I submit to the department have been used and reused and would be archived for its own benefit without any return to me and that’s just the way things are because there is no system in place. Donate. Help. Share. Volunteer. Give of your time. Free, free, FREE! That’s how we operate. It’s no wonder why our skills and services are underpaid in the real (?) world. They see us in the same way we see ourselves.
You get this in the real world; ‘That looks great!’ ‘You all were lovely!’ ‘That sounds fantastic!’ ……..Then this; ’We havin’ a lil fundraiser and we need some entertainment. We’ll feed you all.’ ‘We don’t have a lot of money for a band. Most of the budget went on the food and décor.’ ‘We like what you all did in that show and we want to have the group in the show but could you cut down on the number of people? We didn’t cater on having so many people.’How do we treat this? How do we stand up to this and teach each other to stand up to it? How can we if we continually do it to ourselves? We’re faced with these issues all the time and it has been fueled by how we value our crafts and by public perception. This catalyst for this perception to be dispelled must begin at the source of education in the arts; not promotion and perpetuation of the notion by the same institution.The time I spend doing something for free (especially on a regular basis) is time I should spend earning a living and paying my bills, doing other coursework or simply spending time with my family, which is another facet that can suffer from involvement in the arts if time and care are not given. As far as I am concerned, in my unnecessarily long tenure at the university, the Department of Creative and Festival Arts is the bastard child of the university in terms of the amount of attention paid to it re: proper classrooms and facilities, yet a child of convenience whenever it looks to stage an event, so why should I be continually giving of my time and skills to it?
I speak out for myself and for other practitioners who face the same situations on a daily basis. I hope that in some future time our institution can employ the ‘charity begins at home’ quote and inspire its output of arts industry labour to see opportunities for sustenance and prosperity instead of uncertainty and cynicism in the love/hate battle we constantly have with the issues in our chosen paths.
Elliot Darwin Francois13th March 2010
