The Chairlady of the Arts and Craft centre situated at Lumley Beach road, Jenneh Lahai, has said in an interview with Premier News on Monday that the outbreak of the coronavirus has caused a fall in the income and prices of artworks produced by creative artists in the country.
She said that since May 24, 2020 sales had been very low and she had been facing serious difficulty in providing for her survival. She added that she has now shifted to another trade to make ends meet.
Added to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, the fact that the Centre is located at the back of the Building which houses the National Tourist Board at Lumley Beach Road is another factor which is contributing to the fall in their daily sales, because members even regulars at the beach could not, without being told, know that there is an Arts Centre located at the back of the building.
She also informed that artists at the centre including herself had, in a bid to relocate the centre, held unsuccessful dialogue with several persons who had held the office of Ministers of Tourism who had promised that they would help to relocate the Art Centre at Lumley beachfront.
Hannah Turay produces necklaces and wrist bands made out of beads and fish bones which she sells at the centre. She also produces and sells dresses sewn with gara-tie-dyed fabrics designed with beads at the crest, and bedsheet made of that same fabric. Turay said that since the Coronavirus emerged sales in her beads, gara-tie-dyed fabrics and other products of her trade has drastically fallen. She added that it is now common for her to sit at her selling booth a whole day without selling a single item.
She said mostly the people who buy artworks from them are tourists visiting the country, adding that after the initial outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country and closure of the Lungi International Airport by the government as a preventives measures, they experienced a sharp fall in demand for their products.
Turay noted that before COVID-19 business was good and the art industry was booming in the months leading up to the country reporting its index case. She attributed the boom in sale during pre-COVID-19 period to the demand from Sierra Leoneans and foreigners who frequently bought their products.
“Because of the stagnation of business in the past months, I had to spend moneys I had set aside for other purposes in order to provide food for my family. Even though government has reopened the airport, we are yet to realize an increase in sales. It has to take sometimes before we can again reach our peak,” she added.
She explained that she was trained to produce the art works which she now produces and sells by the present chairlady of the centre in the year 2000. She recalled that back then they displayed products in a small kiosk which was located at the frontage of Mammy Yoko Hotel in Aberdeen because the environment there was busy with vehicles plying regularly. She said that for the safety of their children who were mostly at that spot where they did business, the UN Women decided to relocate them to their present location with the intention to safeguard their children from been hit by vehicles.
A Creative Art Artist, Idrissa Kamara, also cited that since the Creative Art Industry is a fundamental pillar of the Tourism sector, it is believed to have been amongst the sector that has been highly impacted by COVID-19.
He reiterated that their trade flourishes when they have tourists into the country, but because government decided to close the airport in a bid to curtail the spread of the coronavirus the creative art business has not been good.
He mentioned that since COVID-19 emerged and the closure of the airport, he decided to work in the arts business on alternate days, adding that for the last four months that has been his mode of operation.
He further mentioned that he used to run his business at the Art Centre which consisted of about 18 booths, but because the National Tourist Board building has now overshadowed the centre, it has made it difficult for members of the public to take notice of the existence of the centre without been told of it, adding that “I and some of our colleagues decided to move into a better spot for business where our product can be seen by the public.”
Kamara explained that he started doing creative art work in 1992 after winning a primary school drawing competition at the age of 15-year. He added that after he had been declared the victor, the organizers bought him drawing utensils as the winner’s prize.
“Having discovered my true potential in drawing and its huge income generating potentials I decided to quit school, a decision that made my parents to be unhappy with me staying with them. Because of that I also decided to move out of the house in a bid to fulfil my desire to draw,” he said
He called on government to relocate the art centre to a business friendly environment that could be easily accessible to members of the public. He said that creative arts is his only means of sustenance.
By George M.O Williams
07/08/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7881