Palestinian-led campaigns have been launched in the art world, the aim of which is to make visible Israel’s possible art laundering. In Germany and the United States, movements have been accused of anti-Semitism.
The petition to remove Zabludowicz from the board of the Kiasma Support Foundation has been signed by 127 artists by Monday afternoon.
The background of the art boycott is the broader movement BDS, i.e. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. It is a non-profit Palestinian-led people’s movement whose actors aim to promote economic and political resistance against Israel.
A group of Finnish contemporary artists demands that the Zabludowicz Art Trust representative give up his board position in the Kiasma support foundation. The trust is represented in the foundation by Poju Zabludowicz. He is an internationally significant art collector and patron. The Kiasma Support Foundation is an independent body that supports Kiasma’s operations financially.
According to the BDS movement, which supports the Kiasma boycott, Israel blatantly violates international law by occupying Palestinian territories and building its own settlements there.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Israel has kept the Gaza Strip under blockade for the past few years.
BDS, which was founded in 2005, seeks an echo base for the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories from the movement against racial segregation, i.e. apartheid, in South Africa before 1991. The Palestinian-led BDS was founded in 2005
A movement within a movement
A separate boycott of Zabludowicz and his activities in the field of art by the BDS movement started in 2014.
BDZ, i.e. Boycott and Divestment Zabludowicz, directed its activities towards the activities of the Zabludowicz Art Trust. According to it, the foundation whitewashes racism and racial segregation practiced by the Israeli state. Art washing refers to an activity that uses art or artists to divert attention away from the oppression practiced by an individual or a community.
Now the BDZ movement has encouraged Finnish artists to boycott the Kiasma support foundation, of which Zabludowicz is a board member.
In Finland, the artists’ boycott is also accelerated by the Finnish movement Finland Against Apartheid, which demands that the Finnish state respect human rights and, among other things, stop the arms trade with Israel.
Germany declared the BDS movement anti-Semitic
The activities of BDS have been received in different ways in different countries.
In 2019, the German parliament declared the BDS movement anti-Semitic, i.e. anti-Jewish. At that time, BDS was involved in the boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.
The question of anti-Semitism is now also coming up in Finland, at least in social media discussions.
Israel has denied visas to people who have supported the BDS movement.
Who has clean flour in the bag
In the discussion started by Jan Erola, it is pointed out that the main supporter of artists in Finland is the state. The Finnish government trades arms with Israel.
Finland is currently preparing the purchase of anti-aircraft missiles from the country. The purchase price may rise to more than one billion euros.
Israel is also an important trade partner for many other Western countries. According to World Bank statistics, Israel’s most important trading partners are the United States, China and Germany.
The social media discussion asks in an ironic tone whether artists should boycott the Finnish state and the Central Art Commission.
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