I Am Conference 2025: Authenticity is the Superpower of Barbadian Creatives

Young Barbadian creatives were told to embrace their own story and to be authentic in their identity. This advice from Creative Director, Antonio Medford on Day 3 of the  annual I AM Conference at the Hilton Hotel.  His topic ‘Authenticity in the Orange Economy-A journey from Barbados’.

Medford in defining ‘Orange Economy’ told participants that it involved the creatives, the cultural industry, arts, craft, media, entertainers, etcetera. He contended that authenticity is the key ingredient that helps creatives to build trust, differentiate their work, and to create meaningful impacts, locally, regionally and internationally.

In this regard, the Creative Director posited that brand identity, defines how their brand is perceived visually, verbally or in its own special way, using whatever medium or platform that’s available.

He urged the creatives to try to stand out by telling their own real stories, adding that being themselves and being authentic is their superpower. “Be yourself and do not try to be anybody else. Rihanna could not have succeeded by trying to be someone else but only through pushing and embracing her true style and self”.

Continuing, Mr. Medford told participants that their culture was their creative currency and encouraged his audience to use it boldly, proudly and unapologetically, whilst building a brand that reflected who they truly are.

He was supported in his sentiments by another creative, Yekini Nurse, representative of The Space, On Brand Global located at Oistins, Christ Church. Mr. Nurse told the young men and women that their “voices, ideas and lived experiences matter” adding that they can be anything they wished to be, noting that the only limitation was their imagination.

Nurse stated that The Space, On Brand Global offers creatives an area to be the heartbeat of filming, recording and a whole range of new possibilities that were not available before. In this regard he lauded government for helping to push the creative industry, saying “it’s a very exciting time to be alive in Barbados for such practitioners”.

He urged creatives to fully utilise the opportunities on offer through the access they now have by, “building pathways so that the next generation of Barbadian creatives don’t have to start from ground zero”.