angelo.jedidiah@guardian.co.tt
While wirebenders across the country can bend wire into any shape, they remain unable to re-shape the reality of decreasing income.
Traditionally, wirebending has been essential to the production of mas, for many to admire. However, wirebender Richard Lera he has experienced as much as 40 per cent in orders.
Lera, who has been a master wire bender for the past 30 years, is concerned with the lack of business which he said is adding to the public perception that there is no support for creatives.
“Since the pandemic, the first year and a half, we didn’t have any work. Since then, it starting to get back but not as the normal amount you would get,” he said.
This year has been touted as The Mother of All Carnivals but Lera said he is not seeing the numbers to reflect that.
“The orders are less. So where a band might have ordered, let’s say 90, it might have dropped to 50,” he said.
While he said this might be because of the increasing cost of living, Lera said wirebenders are facing additional problems.
“My main issue is getting material…you might have to go abroad and get it. Every time you get it, it tends to go up by a little bit. You can give somebody a price for an item and at the end of the day if you have to wait for materials to come in, you end up having to spend more than what you actually could.”
But Lera does not intend to let that stop him. He is hoping more can be done to save those who contribute to the beauty and creativity associated with Carnival.
“I think if we could get like more duty-free bringing in stuff from abroad because sometimes you can bring it on your own but because of the cost, it don’t make sense,” he said.