GERMANY (CelebrityAccess) – It appears that Germany’s Ruhrtriennale Music & Arts Festival has reinvited Scottish experimental rap trio, Young Fathers, to perform at their 2018 event after publicly dropping the group from its lineup earlier this month.
Ruhrtriennale announced back on June 13th that they would be canceling the group’s performance due to their support of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
But, the music and media communities were having none of it. Following much outcry and public support from the likes of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Brian Eno and countless others, the festival reversed its decision this week.
In a statement posted to the festival’s website, Ruhrtriennale artistic director Stefanie Carp said: “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.”
A spokesperson for Young Fathers has since told The Guardian that the band is now unable to take up the reinvitation to perform.
