The Bermuda Gombey Festival took place over the weekend, featuring a line up of Gombey performances, film premieres and entertainment by some of Bermuda's best and brightest talent.
Friday evening (7 October), as part of the weekend of activities, the event kicked off with the presentation of the short film - Not a Generic Gombey: Art, Consumption, and Intellectual Property. The film can be found here: https://culture.bm/events/gombey-festival/not-a-generic-gombey-premiere/
The general description is as follows: Not a Generic Gombey: Art, Consumption, and Intellectual Property Short Film Release
Created by the Department of Culture with videographer Qian Dickinson, this film discusses intellectual property issues around Gombeys.
Several Bermuda Gombeys speak about the challenges in seeing their image represented without compensation or permission. With a few small tweaks, even a registered design can be considered brand new work from someone outside of the culture and after so many years, copyright goes into public domain.
They consider this an ethical challenge instead of a legal one. Instead, they invite entrepreneurs and artists to learn more and collaborate with them, as fellow artists, the men behind the masks.