By Yunus S Saliu
As the severity persist in this coronavirus pandemic situation, the National Centre for Arts and Culture Wednesday presented amount of D50,000 cash to ten Gambian artists to ease burden on them in this pandemic.
The amount was made available to the National Centre for Arts and Culture by the Gambia Chamber of Commerce to support Gambian artists. The GCCI had just completed a fund raising drive for the business sector to support them in this period of Covid-19 pandemic malaise.
Presenting the cash among to the ten Gambian artists, Hassoum Ceesay, director general of NCAC said in May 2020 NCAC had requested for assistance from GCCI to support Gambian artists as they are hard hit by the pandemic.
In his request on their behalf he explained that “Gambian artists too were hard hit by the pandemic as performance venues have closed and no artistic programmes could happen during the anti Covid-19 emergency measures.”
Among those that were severely affected are writers, dramatists, musicians, cinematographers, filmmakers, dancers, bookshops, performance venues, equipment hirers.
In response to NCAC’s request “GCCI gave D50,000 to Gambian artists and NCAC decided to invite 10 of these including writers, dramatists, filmmakers, folklorists, and to give them D5,000 each to support them in this trying and frightening times,” DG Ceesay confirmed.
With this amount, he said “though small but expresses the fact that NCAC and its Ministry has the interest of artists in mind always and will continue to pursue all other means to ensure that the weight imposed on Gambian artists by Covid-19 is eased,” he assured them.
Hassoum Ceesay therefore thanked the GCCI’s Chairman and Secretary General for their generous donation and as well assured them that his Centre will continue to encourage artists to join the GCCI as fully fledged members.
Sheik Omar Ceesay, director of literature and performing arts was joined by the beneficiaries to thank the GCCI for the support and as applauded NCAC and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture for the laudable action taken to support Gambian artists.
Meanwhile, this is just one of several interventions by NCAC and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to address the plight of artists in the pandemic.
