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Dozens extra artists have joined a boycott of this yr’s Nice Escape pageant, with over half the line-up demanding the pageant drop their sponsorship with Barclays in solidarity with Palestine.
The Brighton-based pageant is sponsored by the financial institution, which has been a supply of controversy amid the present occasions in Gaza due to the financial institution’s monetary funding in corporations that provide arms to Israel.
The difficulty was first highlighted by a petition began by the promoter The way to Catch a Pig and the band The Menstrual Cramps, and has since been signed by artists together with Kneecap, Lambrini Ladies, Alfie Templeman, Lip Critic, Wunderhorse and Mary within the Junkyard who’ve urged the pageant to drop Barclays as a sponsor.
Then, Cherym pulled out of enjoying Nice Escape as a result of pageant’s reference to Barclays financial institution earlier than report labels Alcopop and Massive Scary Monsters joined the boycott and pulled out of the pageant.
Now, dozens extra have joined the boycott over the controversial partnership. The newest to drop out of performing embrace Lambrini Ladies, ZHEANI, Rett Madison, Mui Zyu, Hongza, Sarah Crean, LVRA, Ultimate Residing, Van Zon, COMRAD, Different Half, Cherym and Borough Council.
Talking about their determination to not play the pageant, Lambrini Ladies issued a press release saying: “We is not going to be showing at The Nice Escape pageant this yr. This can be a focused method of a cultural boycott, contemplating Barclays sponsorship.
“Barclays present monetary providers of over £1BN kilos to corporations supplying army expertise and weapons to the IDF, perpetuating the horrors unfolding in Gaza.”
216 artists, making up roughly half of the pageant’s lineup, have now signed a press release calling on the pageant to drop its partnership with Barclays due to the financial institution’s monetary investments in corporations that provide arms to Israel.
The assertion is supported by over 1000 musicians and business professionals to date. 216 of the signatories are booked to play at this yr’s pageant.
The assertion reads: “A financial institution that’s concerned in Israel’s genocide has no place at The Nice Escape, which is a fixture of the impartial music scene and has a prized place within the business. We refuse to let music be used to whitewash human rights violations. We can’t let our inventive outputs develop into smokescreens behind which cash is pumped into murdering Palestinians.”
NME has reached out to The Nice Escape pageant for remark.
Australian musician ZHEANI stated of their determination to not play the pageant: “The banking institution not solely assist and revenue off the present Israeli assault on Gaza however have funded all wars for hundreds of years. I can’t assist evil. Free Palestine.”
Rett Madison additionally confirmed she could be dropping out too. Madison stated: “In assist of the Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign, I’m becoming a member of the boycott of Barclays and withdrawing my efficiency at The Nice Escape Pageant this Might.”
Whereas Jasmine.4.t added: “I’ve dropped out from The Nice Escape and I’m encouraging all artists to disrupt the pageant by withholding their labour because it’s fully unacceptable and admittedly disgusting that they nonetheless haven’t dropped famed genocide-financers Barclays. Barclays is a widely-known major goal for the BDS motion, and is answerable for over £4bn of investments in Israeli arms, and TGE are giving them cultural capital and artwashing their crimes by way of their partnership.”
The transfer comes a month after swathes of artists refused to play Austin’s SXSW Pageant, resulting from its connections with the US Military and weapons corporations amid the Israel-Gaza battle.
Gruff Rhys, Kneecap, Sprints, Lambrini Ladies, Gel, Rachel Chinouriri, Cardinals and NewDad all ultimately pulled out from SXSW, in addition to each Irish act on the invoice. Most of the artists expressed that that they had made the choice out of solidarity with the folks of Palestine.
In gentle of the withdrawals, SXSW launched a press release concerning all the bands and artists who’ve been pulling out of the pageant, saying: “We’re an organisation that welcomes various viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has lengthy been our legacy. We absolutely respect the choice these artists made to train their proper to free speech.”
Explaining its sponsorship with the US Military, SXSW wrote: “The defence business has traditionally been a proving floor for lots of the methods we depend on at the moment. These establishments are sometimes leaders in rising applied sciences, and we imagine it’s higher to grasp how their method will influence our lives.”
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