THE airwaves have been replete in recently with expressions of concern that Jamaica is failing to realise full economic value from the wealth that resides in the country’s creative industries. On Monday, December 14, Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica (VPAJ) will present a two-hour Launch Showcase which will display what one cluster of members in the creative industries has been doing to help turn that situation around.

The VPAJ – an alliance of more than 300 individuals, firms, professional associations, training institutions and other stakeholders active in Jamaica’s creative industries – comprises film and television professionals, visual artists, dancers and choreographers, dramatists, writers and publishers, as well as providers of affiliated products and services to those creative producers. Monday’s Launch Showcase could easily be dubbed a celebration of the achievements of the VPAJ and its members to date, while also facilitating the unveiling of the alliance’s dynamic and innovative website and database, which are designed to showcase members’ creative products and to serve as a platform that stimulates e-commerce.

Also set to be unveiled will be a segment of VPAJ’s Strategic Plan for 2010 and beyond. With its content reflecting the input of existing members and key public and private stakeholders, the Plan has been fashioned to ensure that the organisation is able to transition into a self-sustaining entity, capable of proactively fostering further development and expansion of Jamaica’s creative industries.

“In essence,” says VPAJ facilitator Trevor Fearon, “that Strategic Plan will chart the way toward maximising opportunities for the creative output of the Alliance’s members – locally, regionally and further afield. This is a vital aspect to the current thrust for Jamaica to gain optimum value from the gamut of disciplines within the country’s creative sector,” Fearon adds.

The main aspect of the Plan to be unveiled will be short, individual video profiles of several VPAJ members, in which they discuss their work and comment on how they would like to see the creative industries sector and the VPAJ cluster move forward. The incisive and entertaining sequences were produced by some members of the VPAJ’s Film and Video sub-cluster.

Monday evening’s Launch Showcase – which will be mounted at Jamaica Trade and Invest – is being organised by a team which is led by Business Development Consultant Katrine Smith, and whose members include Artist jeweler and art consultant Damaris Mayne, as well as actor, producer, director Fabian Thomas – the team member who is directing the evening’s showcase. “That small team is working flat-out to ensure that the launch showcase is an exciting, creative and informative experience,” Trevor Fearon has said.

Speakers at the showcase event will include Reginald Budhan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce; Mrs Sancia Bennett-Templer, President of Jamaica Trade and Invest; and Corrine Deleu, Programme Manager in the Economic and Social Development Section of the Delegation of the European Union – the organisation which, in collaboration with the Government of Jamaica, funded the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) out of which business development “clusters” such as the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica cluster were born.