Why it’s a summer of discontent at arts festivals | News about Entities and Arts

In a city with multiple arts events, in Edinburgh this weekend you will find two different positions on festival funding.

Alongside the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Edinburgh Book Festival begins.

Brilliant cultural platforms in their own right, both have traditionally welcomed sponsors to help them realize their various artistic and literary endeavors.

But when it comes to accepting money from investment management firm Baillie Gifford, they end up in opposite positions.

Following protests on stage at last year’s literary event over the company’s links to Israel and fossil fuel companies, the Book Festival ended its sponsorship deal with Baillie Gifford.

While Fringe, on the other hand, did not.

In an interview, its CEO, Shona McCarthy, stated that arts organizers feel a “fragment” at this time, expected to be the “most values-driven organizations on the planet” as they face financial difficulties.

Comedian Michael Kunze told Sky News he understood, saying: “I have friends who work in arts organizations and they’re all doing the best they can, they care so deeply about the arts, they’re so passionate about it, and it’s frustrating, you know. , where is the clean money?”

But Mark Thomas, who also performs a series of stand-up shows in Edinburgh, said the Fringe was wrong to accept them as sponsors.

“I know Shona and I like her, she said there is no such thing as clean money,” he said.

“Well, if that’s the case, why aren’t vaping companies sponsoring children’s shows? Why don’t they involve Putin? Why don’t they take money from the Colombian cartels?”

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Renewed funding scrutiny has made this a summer of discontent for arts festivals.

This included Barclays suspending its links to music festivals in response to band boycotts due to their links to arms companies.

And multiple boycotts of Baillie Gifford are now responsible for nine literary festivals and three art galleries no longer receiving money.

Although activists argue that this is not about destroying the arts, but about building them, not everyone agrees with them.

Edinburgh Book Festival director Jenny Niven told Sky News: “It’s great to have a wide range of perspectives on how you develop the arts.”

Niven – who took over the festival in June 2023 – said: “I think we need to be very careful to preserve what we already have.

In a statement, Baillie Gifford said that just 2% of its clients’ money is invested in companies linked to fossil fuels, compared to the market average of 11%.

He also said that “claims that there are significant amounts of money in the occupied Palestinian territories are offensively misleading.”

Former culture secretary Ed Vaizey said he believed activists were going after the wrong targets.

He said: “[Festivals] they need sponsorship and they get it from legitimate companies… and if you force a boycott, these literary festivals will go down the drain. How does this help anyone?”

One of the UK’s biggest independent music festivals, Green Man in the Brecon Beacons, has gained a loyal following.

When it starts on August 15th, many people return year after year.

Fiona Stewart, its managing director and owner, has always refused to be involved in any corporate dealings and said she sees it as a selling point.

“We’ve never had corporate sponsorship, we’ve been offered a lot,” she said.

“If the public is investing money in this and buying products, so to speak, from that organization and they don’t feel happy with the associations that these festivals are part of, they have the right to say something.”

Samir Eskanda, a Palestinian artist and activist, said activists are increasingly combining forces, influenced by the situation in Gaza and the urgency of climate change.

He said: “What is happening now, and in the future, is that this critical mass of artists is demanding better from arts institutions, including record labels, music festivals, publishers, galleries and so on.

“This is deeply moving for me, as a Palestinian musician and human rights advocate in the UK… I think it shows the power that musicians and artists in general have when we work together strategically and intelligently.”