Multiple artists have pulled out of their official showcases at this year’s South by Southwest festival (SXSW) in support of Palestine, citing the Austin, Texas, event’s ties to the defense contractor RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon, and its sponsorship by the US army.
Chicago-based musician Ella Williams, also known as Squirrel Flower, organized a boycott by publishing a statement on her Instagram on March 4th. She announced her decision to withdraw from the official showcase she was scheduled to perform at the upcoming SXSW festival. In her statement, she cited the festival’s partnership with defense contractor [RTX] and the US army, a major sponsor of the event, as her reason for pulling out of the showcase.
Soon after Williams made her statement, more musicians performing at the event, such as the emo band Proper from Brooklyn, indie band Mamalarky from Los Angeles, and singer-songwriter Eliza McLamb from North Carolina, decided to pull out from their scheduled performances for similar reasons.
“These defense contractors make the weapons that the IDF uses to bomb Gaza. The IDF has now killed at least one in every 75 inhabitants of Gaza, [and] I refuse to be complicit in that,” Williams said. “I don’t believe that a music festival should include profiteers of war – I believe that art is a tool to create a better world and has no place alongside warmongers.”
Williams first became aware of SXSW’s defense connections after seeing a post by Austin for Palestine Coalition, which is pressuring the festival to cut ties with the Department of Defense and private defense contractors. The US army is listed as a “super sponsor” of this year’s festival, and is presenting more than nine events, while Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, is sponsoring two events at SXSW Pitch, the festival’s tech showcase.
RTX is known to supply weapons to the Israeli government; on an earnings call in late October last year, RTX’s chairman and executive director, Greg Hayes, was quoted as saying shareholders would “see a benefit” from increased demand for weapons during the war in Gaza. The defense contractor L3Harris, which is also presenting an event at SXSW, has also come under fire for supplying weapons components to the Israeli army.
According to Noor Khan of Mamalarky, it was a simple choice to withdraw from the festival. Their priority lies with the lives lost in Palestine, and participating in two official shows would not hold the same importance.
Livvy Bennett, a member of her band, expresses that participating in official showcases would mean “supporting this festival for an extended time, which we do not want to do”. Ultimately, Bennett has been going to SXSW since she was 12 and considers it her “top” festival. She hopes the boycott will lead to SXSW and other music festivals breaking ties with the military and defense industries.
According to statistics from the health ministry in Gaza and the UN, Israel’s attack over the past 10 months has resulted in the deaths of over 30,000 individuals, forced 85% of the 2.3 million residents out of their homes, and destroyed more than half of the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure.
Along with performances by artists, SXSW also encompasses movies, television, and technology. The festival brings great benefit to Austin, generating more than $380 million in economic impact during the 2023 gathering.
Being selected for an official showcase at SXSW can lead to exposure to agents, festival organizers, managers, record labels, and journalists, which could potentially be life-changing for some musicians. Shalom Obisie-Orlu, a singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, who goes by her first name, explains that performing at SXSW has been a long-held aspiration for her, but she ultimately decided to withdraw from the festival after seeing Williams’ post. Despite the significant opportunity, Obisie-Orlu, a South African native, expresses her concern about participating in an event associated with the origins of apartheid. She states, “I will never put myself in a situation where I would regret my actions and think, ‘I danced for the war machine’.”
In the past few years, SXSW has received more negative feedback regarding their purported mistreatment of artists. In 2022, the indie rock group Wednesday shared a popular thread on X outlining the expenses involved in performing at the festival, causing other indie artists to speak out about the unfeasible financial situation of playing at the event. During this period, SXSW provided domestic artists with the option of receiving either a small amount of money ($250 for bands, $100 for solo acts) or a festival wristband, while international artists were only given a wristband.
In the previous year, over 2,500 musicians showed their support by signing a public letter initiated by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW). The letter urged the festival to raise performance fees to $750 and distribute wristbands to all performers. As a result, the Austin Parks and Recreation Board advised the Austin city council to reevaluate their partnership with SXSW until fair payment rates were implemented. For SXSW 2024, the fees for bands were increased to $350 and $150 for solo artists, but international artists continue to only receive wristbands. Additionally, a music pass for SXSW 2024 costs $995.
Williams originally opted to receive a wristband instead of payment, stating, “My profit remains unchanged – which is the ironic part of the situation.” She goes on to express her intention to withdraw her artwork from the festival as a statement of not wanting to be associated with it. She believes that withholding art and labor is a strong means of spreading awareness and sending a message to SXSW that artists will not tolerate this.
The Guardian’s request for comment from SXSW was not answered.
Source: theguardian.com
