Artists including Massive Attack and Brian Eno have signed an open letter to Field Day, urging it to distance itself from global investment firm KKR.
Over 50 artists have signed the open letter, and it requests that the London festival sever ties with the firm – which owns Superstruct Entertainment.
It was shared by members of the Sisu collective on Tuesday (April 29), and has already received backing from Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja and Brian Eno. Other signatures come from Rrose, Debonair, Pangaea, Ben UFO, I. JORDAN, Midland, and Jyoty.
“We are a coalition of artists—including many who have been booked to play Field Day in the past and present—who come together to stand against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and to stand for all rights of the Palestinian people under international law,” the letter reads.
“KKR invests billions of pounds in companies which, for example, develop Israeli underground data centres, and advertise real estate on illegally occupied land in Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” it adds. “While we understand that this acquisition was not the choice of Field Day, it nonetheless means that the festival is now implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid and genocide.”
It goes on to request that Field Day “adopt an ethical programming and partnerships policy”. It also says it has “an urgent and profound legal and moral obligation” to “publicly distance itself from KKR to the fullest extent it possibly can, by taking a clear stance against KKR’s complicit investments as well as outlining its position on the genocide of Palestinians, in an official statement.”
Read the full letter here.
The event isn’t the only one being called upon to show more support for Palestine. Earlier this year Boiler Room shared a statement reaffirming its “unapologetically pro-Palestine” stance after some artists dropped out of events due to its ties to KKR (via DJ Mag).
It has also been reported that Superstruct Entertainment, which is owned by KKR, is behind over 80 events across Europe including Sziget and Brunch Electronik.
News of Massive Attack signing the open letter also comes as they recently signed another statement written by Heavenly Recordings and supporting the right to freedom of expression for musicians and artists.
That letter relates to the ongoing controversy around Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap – who are signed to the label – and the efforts from politicians to have them removed from festival line-ups this summer, including Glastonbury and TRNSMT due to comments they made while on stage.
Others who have signed include Pulp, Fontaines D.C., IDLES, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Enter Shikari, English Teacher, The Pogues, Lankum, Toddla T, Sleaford Mods and Thin Lizzy.
Speaking about the Kneecap controversy, Massive Attack shared a statement defending the band and criticising the government for not finding “the time, nor the words to condemn the murder of fifteen voluntary aid workers in Gaza, or the illegal starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare, or the killing of thousands & thousands of children in the same territory”
Del Naja and co. have been vocal in their support for Palestine for decades and have boycotted performing in Israel since 1999.
As for Brian Eno, last October the artist implored the International Criminal Court to “exercise the mandate it has been given to prosecute war crimes” in an open letter.
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