Published: 14 January 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
David Kirk: ‘We have put artists in a very difficult position; we're very sorry about that’; says no specific consideration given to Israeli embassy funding: ‘we missed it’
THE CHAIR OF the Sydney Festival, David Kirk, has offered a mea culpa over the board’s failure to specifically consider the Israeli embassy funding arrangement in advance, and said the board should have addressed the impact of the boycott call on artists more publicly.
“In hindsight, we have put artists in a very difficult position, many have been pressurised to withdraw and we're very sorry about that, Kirk said in an interview on the ABC’s Radio National yesterday.
“We never wanted to do that, and don’t want to do it again.”
Despite the fallout, Kirk insisted there were no divisions within the board over the funding. “The board came to a considered position that we are keeping the funding.”
The boycott call by local pro-Palestinian groups aligned with the BDS movement, which targeted the festival over its acceptance of sponsorship by the embassy, has gained international prominence.
It has also sparked responses on both sides from high-profile artists in Australia and overseas, with arguments raging about the impact and legitimacy of cultural boycotts as a tool of nonviolent protest.
In hindsight, we have put artists in a very difficult position, many have been pressurised to withdraw and we're very sorry about that.
Kirk conceded that responsibility for pursuing the sponsorship with the Israeli embassy to help fund the production of Decadance by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin lay with the board.
When asked why it did not give special consideration to the $20,000 sponsorship in advance, Kirk said “I guess we just missed it. We have to offer a mea culpa.”
In the interview Kirk confirmed a claim by the Israeli embassy that the festival management approached the embassy, not the other way around. “We didn’t think about it twice … and there were no strings attached,” deputy Israeli ambassador to Australia, Ron Gerstenfeld, told ABC radio on Wednesday, the Guardian reported.
“We didn’t ask any promises from [the festival] or the dance company to do something, we didn’t intervene in anything.”
We should have understood and been prepared to debate this more fully at the time.
Kirk said yesterday that because the amount was so modest, it did not raise any flags about special assessment, and just went through the usual funding processes. “We only saw it late [in November], when the brochure was printed; we saw the Israeli logo and we didn’t think it would cause us some problems.”
“But it is the board's responsibility to think about it. We should have understood and been prepared to debate this more fully at the time.”
Last week, as more performers withdrew from the festival in solidarity with the boycott call, the NSW Shadow Arts Minister Walt Secord called for the adoption of anti-BDS laws similar to those that have been implemented in the US.
Last week, Secord wrote to NSW Arts Minister Ben Franklin asking that the Perrottet Government consider introducing a policy whereby if NSW arts organisations agree to the BDS policy or ban Israeli artists or productions, then they will not receive State government funding. His call has been backed by the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies.
Kirk was openly apologetic yesterday about the fallout from the boycott call on artists who were due to perform in this year’s festival. A total of 30 acts have now withdrawn.
“We do appreciate that some artists are very disappointed and upset with the situation they have found themselves in.
“There is a lot of work for us to after the festival; we are intending to undertake a comprehensive review of everything that was done.”
Asked why the board did not speak publicly about these issues earlier in the saga, Kirk said: “We thought the best way to go about this was not to inflate the story with a public back and forth, but to speak to artists privately.”
He conceded that this approach had effectively left the artists to deal with it themselves. “Some of the pressurising on social media has been entirely inappropriate. We should have done this more publicly. I accept that.”
“We're here now, and it’s a measure of our understanding that we should have spoken publicly about it.”
READ MORE
Sydney Festival undertaking review after more than 30 acts withdraw over Israeli funding (ABC)
‘Just a miss’: Sydney festival chair apologises after Israeli embassy sponsorship sparks boycott (Guardian)
Boycotts are an essential and necessary part of public life (SMH)
STATEMENT: Walt Secord calls on NSW arts minister to introduce anti-BDS laws
Main image: Sydney Festival chair David Kirk (left)
