Charterhouse PRO and dance enthusiast Robert Klah
Charterhouse PRO and dance enthusiast Robert Klah has raised concerns over the exclusion of dance from the Creative Arts Legislative Instrument (LI) currently before parliament.
In a detailed analysis on Hitz FM on July 23, 2024, Robert Klah pointed out that the LI and the Creative Arts Agency Act 1014 both fail to recognise dance as a distinct domain within the creative arts industry.
The documents list various sectors such as music, fashion, film, visual arts, and theatre, but omit dance entirely.
“I'm looking at these, and what it says here is that the following domains in the creative arts industry… So, at this point, I'm wondering, where is dance? Where do you believe dance should fall at?” he questioned.
“In the original document itself, it's not there. Then an extension of this is the LI, which is supposed to regulate the space… Then we have requirements. Association for the creative Industry domain, intellectual property rights and collective management organisations training. That's it. So here again, we don't see dance. Okay. Still, you don't see dance,” he added.
Klah argued that this oversight marginalizes dance and its practitioners, denying them the support and recognition afforded to other creative sectors.
“I'm asking myself if these are the things you want to do for the creative industry or the following specific domains, and we are nothing part of this, then we are talking about legal marginalisation. Because remember, everything we talk about, slavery was legal before it was abolished. So once something becomes legal, it's a serious business. It means that you can legally ignore me and I can't say anything because I'm not captured in the system. I have no grounds. And so, it's a big worry that that particular element is not. Hence my reaction. I'm like, no, something is not being done right now in terms of the merits of dance,” he said.
Klah pointed out the importance of including dance in the regulatory framework to ensure it receives adequate support for training, market access, and intellectual property protection.
He also highlighted the growing significance of comedy, another sector not mentioned in the documents, and called for a future-oriented approach that embraces all emerging and promising creative fields.
“In fact, there are other things I also don't see the folks in the space of comedy. And it's a growing business. And you always want to make sure that every document has to be future-oriented,” he said.
ID/NOQ
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