Midland, Roza Terenzi, and more, join Sisu Crew in pulling out of Field Day London in boycott of KKR ownership
It follows the publishing of an open letter, signed by over 200 artists, asking the festival to distance itself from the investments of KKR.
15 artists - comprising members of Sisu Crew as well as Midland, Roza Terenzi, Spray and Regularfantasy - have pulled out of the line-up for this year’s Field Day festival in boycott of its ties to KKR, the parent company of its owner, Superstruct.
It comes just weeks after an open letter was published to Field Day, calling on the festival to publicly distance itself from the investments of KKR, which include stakes in weapons manufacturing companies, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories.
The letter was penned by a coalition of DJs, led by femme collective Sisu Crew, and received over 230 signatures from artists including Brian Eno, Jyoty, Ben UFO, Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, and many more.
On Monday (May 12), a boycott of the festival was announced by groups including Cultural Workers Against Genocide (CWAG), Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and Queers for Palestine.
“We are disappointed by Field Day’s lack of response to the open letter, which was an invitation to take accountability for its complicity in the genocidal implications of its ownership through its parent company, Superstruct, and KKR,” PACBI said.
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"We call on all Field Day artists, workers and attendees to join us in solidarity and to acknowledge the human rights atrocities enacted against Palestinians, which include systemic displacement, military violence, and forced starvation. Israel's brutal apartheid policies and ongoing assault of Palestinian civilians have been widely condemned by international human rights organisations and deemed as illegal by international law.”
Sisu Crew announced that they will no longer appear at this year’s event, withdrawing “our stage, our line-up, and our labour” from Field Day. “The festival has made clear that it is not going to take action against its complicity and the SISU DJs booked to play on SISU’s stage, are withdrawing their energy and putting it elsewhere,” they announced.
The Sisu Crew members who pulled out of this year's event are ex.sses, Malissa, Ariana V, inda flo, Calaida, GUYZ, Jezebelle, ŌKAMI, Chickie, izzy. and Moontalk.
On Wednesday, May 14, Midland released a statement explaining that he has also pulled from this year's bill, writing: "After a lot of thought I have decided to cancel my performance at Field Day.
"I recently signed an open letter to the festival asking them for clarity on their stance on a number of points regarding their link to KKR and addressed the concerns many of us have about their investment portfolio. Unfortunately they have remained silent."
Later that day, a joint statement from Roza Terenzi, Spray and Regularfantasy confirmed they would also be pulling out, stating: "The normalization of a scene where festivals have any link to facilitating sales of occupied land, ownership of weapons manufacturers and crowd control / surveillance technology is morally not something we stand behind."
Read the full statements from PACBI, Midland, Roza Terenzi, Spray and Regularfantasy, and Sisu Crew below.
Mixmag Global has reached out to Field Day for comment.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter.
