Be creative entrepreneurs, artistes urged

artistes to register their works under the existing intellectual property right laws.
“We need to have a paradigm shift on how we see ourselves.
“We should stop regarding ourselves as creative labourers, but as creative entrepreneurs, who once they have secured their intellectual property rights to their own creations, can afford to sleep, while the project makes money for us,” he said.
Giving an example between two photographers, Parrish said one of the photographers can decide to take photographers everyday, spend the money and go back into the streets, while the other one ensures that he does not sell the photographers he takes everyday, but rents them out to people who want to use them on a regular basis.
“Because the pictures are his, he can rent them out to newspapers, web designers, web owners and anyone, who intends to use them for a fee.
“As his clientele grows, he won’t need to go out everyday to take more pictures, but can afford to sleep, while his artworks make money for him,” he said.
During the workshop, artistes had an opportunity to learn about how to combine creativity with business, how to design a business model and how to achieve one’s own kind of success.
They also learnt how to take advantage of the available opportunities and to protect one’s creativity.
Parrish urged artistes to move away from the “starving artiste mentality”, and define their territory and the type of artworks they want to put on the market for sale.
“You can both be an artiste and a successful businessperson once you define your territory, whether you are into performing arts, as a musician, dancer, producer or a designer, or a visual artist.”
“Gone are the days when artistes were considered to be pathetic, poor and miserable individuals who lived from hand to mouth.
“It is not the ideas that we have that make us rich, but it is the execution of those ideas,” he said.
Apart from being a trainer and a consultant on creative entrepreneurship, Parrish is also author riding high with his acclaimed book “T-shirts and Suits”.
In the book, Parrish describes how creative artistes need to combine their creative passion with the best techniques in order to achieve a good business model for their artwork.