Diaspora - A Key Driver of the Creative Economy

Remarks from the 10th Annual Diaspora Conference June 2024

What most people don’t know is that Kingston Creative is a Diaspora Project. I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and when the idea for KC was developed, I was actually living in London. My two cofounders were also in the Diaspora, living in Boston and Miami. Like so many Jamaicans abroad, we saw art districts like Soho, Shoreditch and Wynwood bringing social and economic benefits to cities and their creatives.? We saw countries investing heavily in theatres, festivals and arts infrastructure. We supported various culture-related charities in the countries where we lived, but when it came to Jamaica, it was so hard to know who to trust, and who was actually making a real difference on the ground.? So, we took the leap, and in 2017 one of us moved back home (raises hand :-)) becoming a returning resident for the second time - and the rest, as they say, is history.

In seven short years, Kingston Creative has hosted over 150 festivals and meetups, given hundreds of cultural tours, worked with 20 inner city communities painted over 100 murals, trained thousands of creative, given grants and sent artists around the world on travel opportunities. We have developed tech platforms like the Kulcha Connect App and the Caribbean Creative Network – ecommerce platforms where anyone in the world can find Jamaican creatives and buy Jamaican products.? Kingston Creative also opened a coworking studio space located in the heart of Downtown Kingston which we are developing into a creative hub. Nice statistics and great projects - but what does all that mean?? It means that we have started to write a new story for Downtown Kingston.

Controlling the narrative about your country is critical. This hope and transformation story has been shared in the Guardian, on the BBC, in National Geographic and in Forbes Magazine and more and is reaching the over 3 million people in the Jamaican Diaspora. The world is really excited about what is happening in Downtown – the “arts renaissance” as they call it.? Downtown Kingston won global awards last year, including the World’s Best Creative Destination which our Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Ed Bartlett collected in Berlin.? Hollywood superstars like Scandal’s very own Kerry Washington, a Diaspora member herself, and tourists from all over the world, now put Water Lane, Downtown Kingston on their itinerary when they plan to come to Jamaica. This is a huge shift in perception, in a relatively short space of time and with a relatively small investment from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), corporates like Sherwin Williams, and others... including members of the Diaspora who quietly donate to Kingston Creative to support our work.

Kingston Creative is a movement, made up of people just like me and you. Whether they live in Jamaica or live in the Diaspora, we are tired of sitting around and waiting for change to happen. We believe in our talent as a people, and we are betting on our ‘likkle but tallawah’ culture and creativity to bring about the change we all want to see for our country. ??Ours is a story of transformation, and we are working towards “One Downtown” – the ultimate vision is a capital city united by art and culture, with live music, a night economy, regenerated buildings, low crime, free movement between creative communities like Tivoli Gardens, Trench Town and Rae Town, with hordes of cultural experience seekers moving through the city for investment and growth in GDP.

Now let me be clear.? I’m not here asking you to care about Arts and Culture.? Whether you personally like dance, art, music, film or fashion is completely irrelevant.? I’m asking you to care about the Jamaican economy. I’m asking you to care about jobs, employment of youth, employment of women and to see how this opportunity, powered by creative people, could be transformative for our country.?

The data shows that the creative economy has been a productive area – with one of the highest growth rates over the past decade according to the IDB.? Globally, it represents 3% of world's GDP, employs more than 30 million people and generates an estimated US$2.253 billion worldwide. These trends also obtain in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where the cultural and creative industries generate revenues of US$124 billion, 2.2% of the regional GDP and 1.9 million jobs.

I sit on the Global Creative Economy Council (GCEC) and the board of the Global Cultural Districts Network (www.gcdn.net), and from this vantage point we see many other countries investing strategically in this area and reaping the rewards. However, so far, this is a largely untapped opportunity for Jamaica.

In the Diaspora we already know – Culture is Jamaica’s Superpower.? It is what we do better than any country in the world.? So, let’s come together to lobby to have the right policies in place. Policies that enable development of creative people and creative places like Downtown, but also?of other historic spaces like Black River and Falmouth.? Let’s take collective responsibility for our future and harness culture and creativity for the sustainable development of our nation.

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Questions & Answers

What are your key takeaways or recommendations?

·?????? Diaspora members can get involved and be a part of the change by supporting the Downtown Transformation Programme - Adopt A Block.? www.kingstoncreative.org/donate?by donating tax free in Jamaica or from the USA through a registered 501 (c) 3 (American Friends of Jamaica) Paint The City Mural Project – American Friends of Jamaica (theafj.org)

·?????? Diaspora members can directly support Jamaican creatives and the Jamaican creative economy by shopping and purchasing an item from the Kulcha Connect App www.kulchaconnect.com - we ship it to wherever you are in the world

·?????? Diaspora members can help to change the narrative about Jamaica by simply visiting Water Lane Murals, Downtown Kingston.? Book a tour on the Kulcha Connect App and post your photo online to show people what really a gwaan Dung A Town.

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In what ways can cultural, artistic, and creative sectors contribute to community development and social cohesion within Jamaica

Without question, culture is a viable agent of social change and development.

I can give concrete examples of the work that Kingston Creative is doing in Downtown Communities.? We employ community creatives of all types in the tours, the festivals and production of murals. We partner with the PIOJ Community Renewal programme to train them in festival production, creative placemaking and in entrepreneurship and digital skills.? We partnered with HEART Trust/ NTA to develop specific courses for creatives to ensure that they not only have talent but have the necessary business skills and certifications to succeed.? ?The cry from these highly creative communities is for peace.? They want to see ONE DOWNTOWN – and I encourage you to watch the “One Downtown’ documentary on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/6Tm6xBjc_ms if you haven’t seen it.?? Art districts bring about economic benefit but also social benefits like cohesion, community pride, and peace.

In general, it is widely accepted cultural and creative industries can be an enormous catalyst for social change. They create much needed jobs, help diversify economies, fuel innovation, and are socially inclusive - since almost 50% of their workers are women.

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How can Jamaica enhance the global competitiveness of its sports and cultural exports utilizing data, digitization and technology to optimize economic impact for athletes, creatives, other stakeholders and the sectors

The way forward for any sector to be globally competitive is technology.? You’ve heard of FinTech – where technology revolutionized the financial sector – we are betting on technology to amplify our creativity.? The Createch programme is a three year, 1 million USD partnership with the IDB, that explores what happens at the intersection of technology and culture.? We hosted digital skills training, hackathons, and trained our local creatives in virtual reality, augmented reality, NFTs and new technologies, also giving seed capital to grow new ventures.

In addition, we partnered with an EU company to bring Augmented Reality to the murals Downtown, so if you do visit, you will be able to point your phone at a mural and see the figures dancing and hear music from Grammy award winning artists like Kabaka Pyramid.

What are the key factors for successful public-private partnerships in the development of Jamaica's sports and cultural industries?

To have successful partnerships in Jamaica, the main factor is building trust, the second factor is consistent execution, and the third factor is relentless integrity.? You must have a track record of doing what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.? ?

Kingston Creative has brokered over 63 partnerships in the last few years.? Our motto is “Collaboration ova Competition” and partnership is very much in our DNA. We believe in public-private multilateral and third sector partnerships – inclusion of hat third sector, including NGOS and the international development agencies, foundations and charities who are working directly in the trenches with people is critical.

Recognize your agency.? Partnerships do not have to be top down – successful partnerships can start from anywhere, and as we have shown can be initiated from the small island to a big country or the tiny NGO to the massive corporation.? We hope to see more partnerships between Jamaicans abroad and Jamaicans at home, as we are united in our love of the culture, which transcends all borders.

Author: Andrea Dempster Chung

Andrea is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kingston Creative, a nonprofit arts organization and charity founded in 2017, which seeks to use arts for social and economic transformation in Jamaica and which is transforming Downtown Kingston

She has held roles in strategy development and project management in the public and private sector and has served on the boards of Jamaica Social Investment Fund, The National Land Agency and the Public Health Committee.? Andrea managed the Arts portfolio for the British Council in Jamaica, where she developed strategy and implemented key projects in film, literature and visual art.?

Andrea holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering, a Prince2 Certification in Project Management and a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the USA.? She has studied at the Sotheby’s School of Art in London and at the Stanford School of Business in California. She sits on the Global Creative Economy Council and on the board of the Global Cultural Districts Network, and was featured in Forbes Magazine as one of 10 women leading the charge for a sustainable future for Jamaica through development of its cultural and creative industries.