Is refusing to have any artistic association with a foreign government justified, or does boycotting just create unnecessary divisions between creatives? Brian Eno and Tiffany Jenkins weigh in on the debate.
Too many prohibitions are issued to artists today: don’t exhibit, don’t perform, don’t listen, don’t look, don’t collaborate. Worryingly, it is artists themselves who proclaim the majority of them.
In February 2015, more than 100 artists announced a cultural boycott of Israel. A list of cultural luminaries signed a public letter, published in The Guardian, which stated that: ‘We will accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government.’ It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. Barely a month passes without someone calling for a boycott of Israel, arguing that artists and academics should not visit Israel, nor should Israeli artists or academics be permitted to work in the UK... Keep reading on Tiffany Jenkins
Too many prohibitions are issued to artists today: don’t exhibit, don’t perform, don’t listen, don’t look, don’t collaborate. Worryingly, it is artists themselves who proclaim the majority of them.
In February 2015, more than 100 artists announced a cultural boycott of Israel. A list of cultural luminaries signed a public letter, published in The Guardian, which stated that: ‘We will accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government.’ It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. Barely a month passes without someone calling for a boycott of Israel, arguing that artists and academics should not visit Israel, nor should Israeli artists or academics be permitted to work in the UK... Keep reading on Tiffany Jenkins