Olivia Colman Among 1000+ Artists accusing Art Institutions of Censorship on Palestine in an Open Letter

In the letter, writers Deborah Frances-White (The Guilty Feminist),  Kamila Shamsie (Home Fire), Marina Warner (Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tales), Lara Pawson (This is the Place To Be), playwrights Abbie Spallen and Camilla Whitehill, and poets Daisy Lafarge, Malika Booker and Emily Berry affirm that “Despite this pressure, artists in their thousands are following their conscience and continuing to speak out. Freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights is the backbone of our creative lives, and fundamental to democracy.”

Among examples of censorship, the letter cites Lisson Gallery’s ‘postponement’ of a London exhibition by Ai Weiwei; Folkwang Museum in Essen’s last minute cancellation of curator Anais Duplan’s Afrofuturism exhibition, and the Saarland Museum’s cancellation of a solo exhibition of artist Candice Brietz, both in Germany; the announcement by Hollywood producers that they had dropped actor Melissa Barrera from Scream VII. 

In each case the institution attributed the cancellation to comments made by the artist in support of Palestinian rights and unrelated to the content of their professional work. 

This month the publicly funded Arnolfini, Bristol’s International Centre for Contemporary Arts, withdrew from hosting film and spoken word poetry events curated by Bristol Palestine Film Festival, claiming the events might “stray into political activity”. The events have been moved to other venues in the city. 

Letter signatory Hassan Abulrazzak, whose play ‘And Here I Am’ based on the life of a Palestinian actor, was cancelled in Paris in October said: “This censorship is as frustrating as it is wrongheaded. Now is the time to listen to Palestinians, to understand what their lives are like”. 

Film directors Emma Seligman (Bottoms), Hany Abu-Assad (Omar), Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake), Aki Kaurismaki (Drifting Clouds), Sara Driver (Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean Michel Baquiat), Sally El-Hosaini (The Swimmers), urged arts organisations to join calls for a permanent ceasefire and to “stand up for artists and workers who voice their support for Palestinian rights”.  They accuse arts organisations of a “disturbing double standard”, saying that: “expressions of solidarity readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression, have not been extended to Palestinians”. 

Award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook, Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja, Robert Wyatt, David Sylvian and electronic composer Rrose along with visual artists Vanessa Jackson, Sean Edwards, Larissa Sansour, Luke Fowler, Mariam Tafakory, John Smith, Rosalind Nashashibi, Paul Noble, Florence Peake, John Keane and P Staff, say they “stand in solidarity with those facing threats and intimidation in the workplace”. They go on to warn that: “many artists are refusing to work with institutions that fail to meet [these] basic obligations” to uphold freedom of expression and anti-discrimination when it comes to speech on Palestine. 

Two thousand poets announced a boycott of the Poetry Foundation in the US after its magazine refused to publish a book review it had commissioned. Artists and writers internationally have declared they will no longer work with Artforum magazine, and editorial staff have resigned in response to the firing of the editor David Velasco who had published a letter, signed by 8,000 artists that called for a ceasefire and for ‘Palestinian liberation’.

Last Friday, the UN office in Geneva put out a statement titled “Speaking out on Gaza/Israel must be allowed” which expressed “alarm at the worldwide wave of attacks, reprisals, criminalisation and sanctions against those who publicly express solidarity with the victims of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine”. In it, UN experts stated that: “artists, academics, journalists, activists and athletes have faced particularly harsh consequences and reprisals from states and private actors because of their prominent roles and visibility.”

Gabriel Frankel, UK legal officer at the European Legal Support Centre which monitors incidents of repression against advocates for Palestinian rights, said: “we have … seen workers in the sector push back and remain firm in their commitment to justice, and we encourage those who have any concerns to contact the ELSCfor advice.”

The letter in full :

To the Arts and Culture Sector,

We write to you as artists and cultural workers united in our commitment to justice, dignity, freedom, and equality for all people in Israel / Palestine. We hold every life to be precious, and we grieve every death. 

The scale of violence unfolding in Gaza demands our collective attention and action. 

Members of Israel’s far-right government are openly calling for ethnic cleansing. 

The use of starvation as a weapon of war, along with denial of water and electricity, is cruel beyond words. 

The wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure, the bombing of hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, the killing of 14,500  people in a matter of weeks, amount to a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people. The United Nations and hundreds of legal scolars have called on the international community to prevent genocide.

As artists, we cannot remain silent in the face of such egregious violations of international humanitarian law.

While catastrophe unfolds, we have observed a glaring absence of statements of solidarity with Palestinian people from most UK arts organisations.

We find it deeply troubling and, frankly, indicative of a disturbing double standard that expressions of solidarity, which have been readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression, have not been extended to Palestinians. 

Such a discrepancy raises serious questions about bias in the response to grave human rights violations.

Far from supporting our calls for an end to the violence, many cultural institutions in Western countries are systematically repressing, silencing and stigmatising Palestinian voices and perspectives. This includes targeting and threatening the livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians, as well as cancelling performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and booklaunches. 

Despite this pressure, artists in their thousands are following their conscience and continuing to speak out. Freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights is the backbone of our creative lives, and fundamental to democracy. We remind cultural organisations and their funders of their obligation to uphold the right to freedom of expression and to uphold their commitment to anti-discrimination.

As artists and cultural workers, we stand in solidarity with those facing threats and intimidation in the workplace. The arts sector must urgently align its actions with its stated values of justice and inclusivity, and to refuse the dehumanisation of Palestinian people.

We call upon the arts and culture sector to:

– Publicly demand a permanent ceasefire.
– Promote and amplify the voices of Palestinian artists, writers, and thinkers.
– Stand up for artists and workers who voice their support for Palestinian rights.
– Refuse collaborations with institutions or bodies that are complicit in severe human rights violations.

To stay silent in the face of mass injustice and worsening humanitarian crisis would be an abrogation of moral duty. To actively silence the principled artists and workers who do fulfil this responsibility is a failure to meet legal obligations on freedom of expression and anti-discrimination. Many artists are refusing to work with institutions that fail to meet these basic obligations.

The struggle for freedom from racism for Palestinians and Jews is one of collective liberation. We refuse to pit one community against the other, and stand firmly against all forms of racism including Islamophobia and antisemitism.

In the spirit of justice, equality, and the shared values of the arts, we urge you to take a principled stance.