Keeping ghosts of covid away

Dara E Healy

AS I SAT, isolated and trying to comprehend this new reality, the keskidee that visits me sometimes perched outside the protective steel barrier. He sang for a bit and then flew away. I envied him.

Five years. So much has happened since those bleak days of covid19. Artists kept the world mentally stable through it all, with free shows from their balconies, online concerts and even virtual carnivals. In the UK, one masquerader created a sensation online when he paraded along the Notting Hill Carnival route – by himself. We were considered essential; I dare say ranking pretty close to health and sanitation workers. Yet, I wonder, did that time make a difference to how culture and the arts are now positioned? Or was it simply another fleeting 15 minutes of fame?

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a grim announcement. Globally, there were some 118,000 cases across 114 countries and more than 4,000 people had lost their lives. These numbers were expected to significantly rise. As such, director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed the global media that the WHO has “…made the assessment that covid19 can be characterised as a pandemic.”

As the disease dragged on, it became increasingly difficult to imagine returning to any version of normalcy. In 2021, I wrote a piece describing my artistic state of mind. At one point, Tony Hall walked past me with a chamber pot on his head like he used to when performing in Kambule (Canboulay) on the streets of Piccadilly in Port of Spain. Another time, I heard Kamau Brathwaite chattering one of his poems in my ear. I began to worry that I would never be able to choreograph again.

Death was everywhere, but I kept writing. As I said in one piece, “I gasped with the rest of the world when drone footage showed workers digging mass graves in New York.” Deprived of inspiration, I turned to storytelling, conjuring different worlds in my imagination. I played with time, moving between history, the present and the future. Through my characters, I explored resistance movements, revolutionary experiences and, yes, pandemics.

Eventually, we were allowed to move around and exercise again, so I was finally able to connect with my community. The state of inertia felt less permanent now. Even the artist ghosts left me alone and went about their business. Life was getting easier, but like other creatives around the world, I still could not earn a living. So, in this challenging time, we were grateful for some financial support from the state.

Other global inequities were magnified during that period. Many people still did not have access to technology or the internet, which limited their access to the uplifting online performances. Thus, social distancing and isolation deepened the phenomenon of loneliness, particularly for the elderly. Control of information and misinformation impacted the delivery of life-saving services. At home, the pandemic brought into sharp focus our inadequate attention to food security as concerns were raised over regular, long-term access to food.

The crisis also forced a slight shifting of traditional geopolitical relationships as Cuban doctors travelled across the world, from Europe to Africa and the Caribbean to help countries battle covid19. Today, as global political and economic alliances appear increasingly volatile, we urgently need to reposition the creative sector as being critical for our diversified economy.

For instance, it is not enough to constantly repeat that Carnival is a significant income earner for us. During the pandemic, some mas bands found a way to create using locally sourced materials. It is time to apply innovation and funding towards reinventing this sector and supporting creatives across the value chain.

In many ways, the creative sector is linked to growth in consumer demands for access to technology related to social media and e-commerce services. How is growth in these sectors being linked to the output of artists? As conversations around new trading partners increase, when will creatives be included in overseas trade missions? Where is the strategic reframing for the sector, as proposed by the UN?

Five years ago we gave to the world, even as we watched our livelihoods slip away. Policymakers, act now to ensure that we will be here when the world needs us again. Something tells me it is only a matter of time before the ghosts reappear.

Dara E Healy is a performing artist and founder of the Idakeda Group, a cultural organisation dedicated to empowering communities through the arts