- Bristol’s iconic Arnolfini gallery apologises “without reservation” for cancelling Palestinian events amid “ongoing devastation and loss of life in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel”
- Arnolfini: “We believe that freedom of expression and intellectual freedom are vital and must be fully reflected in our policies and practices.”
- Bristol Artists for Palestine welcomes the statement, calls off the artist-led boycott of the venue.
The boycott of an iconic British arts venue has ended after it apologised for its anti-Palestinian censorship. The Arnolfini in Bristol said it was “truly sorry” for cancelling film and poetry events curated by Bristol Palestine Film Festival in November last year, and committed to platforming Palestinian voices.
In response to the cancellations, more than 1,400 artists – including prominent Bristol artists such as Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja, writers Alice Oswald, Nikesh Shukla, Shon Faye, Travis Alabanza and Rachel Holmes – had announced they would refuse to work with the venue in protest at “the censorship of Palestinian culture”. The artists demanded the gallery “commit to freedom of expression, without exception for Palestine” and “genuinely engage with Bristol’s arts community to rectify the harm it has caused”.
Today, in a statement, Arnolfini acknowledged the detrimental impact the cancellations had had, and addressed artists, audiences, and Bristol Palestine Film Festival, saying it was “truly sorry”. The organisation also affirmed its commitment to freedom of expression, saying:
“During this overwhelming humanitarian crisis, the voices of the victims need to be heard. (…) We believe that freedom of expression and intellectual freedom are vital and must be fully reflected in our policies and practices. We are sorry that we did not provide a platform for Palestinian voices at such a crucial time.”
The organisation said it will be publishing new policies and reviewing internal governance processes in light of what had happened.
Bristol Artists for Palestine welcomed Arnolfini’s apology. They said the statement provided a resolution to the artists’ demands, and the group announced an end to the artist-led boycott of the venue.
They went on to say:
“We call for all arts institutions, galleries, venues, festivals, universities and funders to uphold the same consistent freedom of expression with no exception for Palestine that Arnolfini has committed to support, and to formally recognise the devastation being wrought by Israel as plausibly amounting to genocide, as the Arnolfini has done.”
Artists for Palestine UK said:
“We welcome Arnolfini’s statement and applaud the hard work of those involved in the mediation process.
We hope this sends a clear message to other cultural institutions. Amid a repressive political and media climate, cultural institutions are too often failing in their duty to uphold freedom of expression and to protect against discrimination.
At a time of unprecedented dehumanisation of Palestinian people, artists and audiences expect cultural spaces to amplify voices that articulate the realities of Palestinian experiences and aspirations, as vital contributions to cultural understanding and to our shared humanity.”
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, said:
“We salute the artists, culture workers and human rights defenders in Bristol and beyond who took strategic, principled and persistent action in boycotting Arnolfini until their goals were met.
All British arts organisations and venues should take note that targeted, grassroots mobilisations are a potential consequence of racist anti-Palestinian censorship.”
Last month HOME Manchester announced it would reinstate the event “Voices of Resilience” that it had cancelled in response to pressure from a pro-Israel pressure group, after artists withdrew their work en mass from the gallery.
London’s Barbican Centre has been subject to a mass sit-in, and artists and collectors have withdrawn six art works from the current exhibition, ‘Unravel’, in protest at the cancellation of the London Review of Books lecture series that included a talk by Pankaj Mishra, “The Shoah after Gaza”.
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