11 artists pull out of Field Day line-up in boycott of KKR ownership
11 artists have pulled from the line-up for this year’s Field Day festival in boycott of its ties to KKR, the parent company of its owner, Superstruct.
It comes just weeks after an open letter was published to Field Day, calling on the festival to publicly distance itself from the investments of KKR, which include stakes in weapons manufacturing companies, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories.
The letter was penned by a coalition of DJs, led by femme collective Sisu Crew, and received over 230 signatures from artists including Brian Eno, Jyoty, Ben UFO, Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, and many more.
Read this next: Brian Eno, Ben UFO and Jyoty sign open letter calling on Field Day to distance itself from KKR
On Monday (May 12), a boycott of the festival was announced by groups including Cultural Workers Against Genocide (CWAG), Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and Queers for Palestine.
“We are disappointed by Field Day’s lack of response to the open letter, which was an invitation to take accountability for its complicity in the genocidal implications of its ownership through its parent company, Superstruct, and KKR,” PACBI said.
Read this next: Boiler Room issues statement concerning new owners Superstruct/KKR
“We call on all Field Day artists, workers and attendees to join us in solidarity and to acknowledge the human rights atrocities enacted against Palestinians, which include systemic displacement, military violence, and forced starvation. Israel’s brutal apartheid policies and ongoing assault of Palestinian civilians have been widely condemned by international human rights organisations and deemed as illegal by international law.”
Artists who have pulled from this year’s festival line-up include ex.sses, Malissa, Ariana V, inda flo, Calaida, GUYZ, Jezebelle, ŌKAMI, Chickie, izzy., and Moontalk.
Sisu Crew also announced that they are pulling from this year’s event, withdrawing “our stage, our line-up, and our labour” from Field Day.
“The festival has made clear that it is not going to take action against its complicity and the SISU DJs booked to play on SISU’s stage, are withdrawing their energy and putting it elsewhere,” they announced.
Read the full statement from PACBI below.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter
