German Ruhrtriennale Festival Re-Invites Young Fathers After Dropping Them Over BDS Support

Because The Young Fathers support the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement in protest against Israel’s policy towards Palestine, Germany festival Ruhrtriennale initially dropped and later re-invited the band.

Marcus Simaitis – Ruhrtriennale 2016
The Wassertrum (water tower) stage

The change of heart came after other artists cancelled or threatened to cancel their performances in support of Young Fathers, who have already stated that they cannot accept the re-invitation.

The festival’s organizers had initially requested the band to distance themselves from BDS, which it did not. On June 12, Ruhrtriennale’s artistic director Stefanie Carp released the following statement: “Regrettably, the Young Fathers have not distanced themselves from BDS. We explicitly do not conclude from this that the band is anti-Semitic, and, in this context, I consider it important to emphasise that criticism of the policy of the current Israeli government is not per se equivalent to anti-Semitism. 

“However, the Ruhrtriennale distances itself in all forms from the BDS movement and wishes to have absolutely no connection with the campaign. We have therefore decided to cancel [Aug. 18] concert [at Turbinenhalle Bochum]. We regret this immensely, because the Young Fathers would have set an important tone in the programme of the Ruhrtriennale.”

Young Fathers said at the time via Artists for Palestine U.K., “we feel it is a wrong and deeply unfair decision by the festival to take this stance and to also ask us to distance ourselves from our human rights principles in order for the appearance to go ahead.”

Several other artists on the festival program, which runs from Aug. 9 to Sept. 23, subsequently withdrew or threatened to withdraw from the event, including Laurie Anderson, Hassan Khan, Sharif Sehnaoui and others.

The artists must have explained their position well, as the artistic director made a 180-degree turn. On June 21, Carp wrote: 

Edi Szekely – Stefanie Carp
Artistic director of Ruhrtriennale

“The programme of the Ruhrtriennale and the artists of this programme are currently under pressure from two campaigns. One says: artists who support organisations that oppose the current policy of the government of the Israeli state and support the rights of the Palestinians are automatically anti-Semitic. The second campaign is the BDS campaign, which says that artists who do not boycott the current government of the State of Israel are automatically suspected of being racist or opponents of the Palestinians.

“I do not share any of the superficial, simplifying positions of these two campaigns. I wish to be able to invite a band such as the Young Fathers for their music and their lyrics although I personally completely reject the boycott strategy of the BDS. As a German, it is, of course, difficult for me to be linked to a movement that boycotts Israel, but I have invited the Young Fathers and not the BDS.

“In many interviews, the Young Fathers have made it credible that they reject anti-Semitism in any form. Following the impression of many discussions and reflections over the last few days, I would like to correct my approach: I wish to invite the Young Fathers again to the concert in Bochum on 18 August 2018 although I do not share their attitude to the BDS. I believe that we need to allow the different perspectives and narratives, because this openness is the dramaturgic credo of our programme. I therefore have to defend the freedom of the arts, and do not, under any circumstances, even indirectly, wish to exercise censorship.”

The open letter signed by artists, who had withdrawn from Ruhrtriennale in support of Young Fathers, confirm that they would be play the festival after all. A joint statement released by a group of artists said Carp’s reconsideration set “an important and positive corrective to an admittedly very dangerous and negative precedent. It also proves that it is possible for institutions to listen to critique and to be able to adjust misguided actions.”

The statement continues: “We wish to clearly state that we unequivocally support the right of artists to hold a political position, and we reject the idea that institutions, in any way, should have the power to demand of artists to renounce their political principles in exchange of participating in their programs.”

The signees further state that “the festivals attempt to portray itself as neutral ground under pressure by two campaigns is inaccurate. None of the artists who had conditionally withdrawn or those who were considering so are official members of the BDS campaign. Our position was based on the absolute conviction that all human beings have equal rights including the inalienable right to hold different political positions and to express them through peaceful forms such as boycotts.

“Finally we find the assertion that artists and institutions are neutral and depoliticized dangerous and naive.”

Ruhrtriennale has been informed by Young Father’s management that the band couldn’t accept the second invite. Pollstar reached out to the Young Fathers’ agents and publicist to find out the reason.

JU/Ruhrtriennale – Turbinenhalle (turbine hall) in Bochum
The Young Fathers would have played here