Art / News
More than 1000 artists stop working with Arnolfini following Palestinian ‘censorship’
Musicians from Massive Attack and Portishead, poets, playwrights, and composers have joined forces to announce they are refusing to work with the Arnolfini following its trustees’ decision to cancel two Bristol Palestine Film Festival events.
More than 1000 artists are signatories to an open letter in which they say they are “reluctantly” refusing to cooperate with the art gallery and will not participate in any of its future events.
The letter says that the “decision by a publicly funded venue to censor Palestinian film and poetry events is a particularly concerning part of an alarming pattern of censorship and repression within the arts sector”.
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Among those who have signed the letter are Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja; Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley; musician Brian Eno; writers Nikesh Shukla, Shon Faye and Lola Olufemi; poet Lawrence Hoo; composer Verity Standen; and performer Travis Alabanza.
A sit-in protest took place at the Arnolfini following the cancellation of the two film festival events, with the gallery since remaining closed at the weekends in order “to take care of the team”.
A statement from the gallery said that it pulled the shows because it “could not be confident that the events would not stray into political activity”.
This is despite numerous events with political themes previously hosted at the gallery including past Palestine Film Festival events and a recent event supporting a Ukrainian charity that supports children impacted by the war with Russia.
Bristol artist and composer Nik Rawlings, who was due to undertake a residency at the Arnolfini, said: “We want to make it clear that we stand fully behind workers at Arnolfini who’ve had no say in this.
“Our message is addressed to those in the management who made this damaging decision; the signatories of this letter expect better integrity, transparency and cultural leadership from Arnolfini.”
Bristol24/7 has asked the Arnolfini for comment.
The Arnolfini has been based in early 19th century warehouse Bush House since 1975 – photo: Martin Booth
Here is the letter in full:
We are alarmed by the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts’ censorship of Palestinian culture through its cancellation of two Bristol Palestine Film Festival events, forcing their relocation to other venues.
Arnolfini claimed it ‘could not be confident that the events would not stray into political activity’.
This had not been a serious concern in all the previous years that Arnolfini hosted the film festival. Nor had it been a problem with the many other exhibitions and public programmes that the centre hosted since its opening in 1961.
Important events on decolonisation and Black Lives Matter, feminism and gender liberation, refugee and asylum seekers’ rights have all taken place without being seen to fall outside the venue’s ‘charitable purpose’.
Hundreds of Bristol residents, including many artists, have responded with incredulity to the Arnolfini’s claim. Some pointed out that last year Arnolfini made its space available for opposition to Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, with part of the ticket sales going to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine.
One person wrote that the purpose of art is to ‘to hold space for as many voices as possible, not to silence them. Removing events platforming Palestinian experiences IS a political move’. Another said: ‘If you only show artists’ work that focuses on oppression when it suits you, it’s called exploitation.’
Meanwhile, a Bristol-organised open letter demanding a public explanation from the gallery for the cancellations has accumulated over 2,300 signatures.
The decision by a publicly funded venue to censor Palestinian film and poetry events is a particularly concerning part of an alarming pattern of censorship and repression within the arts sector.
In recent weeks, dozens of UN experts and hundreds of legal scholars have warned of ‘a genocide in the making’ in Gaza.
More than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and many Palestinian cultural institutions and over 100 heritage sites have been completely or partially destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
That the Arnolfini would choose to silence Palestinian voices and narratives at this exact moment is not merely a betrayal of the fundamental principles of pluralism and freedom in the arts, it is also inhumane.
Arnolfini has a rich historical heritage, benefiting from the wider artistic freedom that artists and their publics have fought for in Britain.
This legacy cannot be allowed to fall prey to authoritarianism, racism and censorship. Anyone who cares about the democratic functioning of our cultural institutions should be deeply concerned.
As artists, audiences, and communities, we must take collective action to ensure our arts institutions uphold universally valued and legally enshrined rights to freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination.
Until the Arnolfini leadership publicly commits to consistently uphold freedom of expression, with no exception for Palestine, and genuinely engages with Bristol’s arts community to rectify the harm it has caused, we must, reluctantly, refuse cooperation with the arts centre and will not participate in any of its events.
We urge fellow artists, curators and audiences who value peace, justice and freedom for all people in Palestine/Israel to join us.
Main photo: Rob Browne
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