Solidarity Statement
with Palestine
Solidarity Statement with BAN9 artist
FRESH Festival stands in solidarity with Paz G, Jeffrey Chung, champoy, Sholeh Asgary, Craig Calderwood, Tracy Ren, Courtney Desiree Morris, Leila Weefur, and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. In an action on 2/15/24, these artists altered their own works in the Bay Area Now 9 exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to protest artist censorship and to center Palestinian liberation. The following day, YBCA unilaterally closed the museum to the public, an act that further silenced these artists’ voices and effectively canceled the following 2024 FRESH Festival programming of Black artists:
to be unseen a series of site-specific performances featuring artists Audrey Johnson, Rama Hall, and Dazaun Soleyn on 2/17
a screening of the film “Whale Fall '' by mayfield brooks, moderated by jose. e. abad, as part of YBCA’s Sorry I Missed Your Show series on on 2/18
FRESH has postponed these events indefinitely, and the Festival organizers are in the process of confirming next steps with the artists involved.
This decision to delay to be unseen was made collectively by FRESH Festival and the dance artists involved, in solidarity with the action and demands from BAN9 artists. We also delayed performances because the artists made movement work in site specific dialogue with the BAN9 artists' works in the YBCA gallery.
FRESH Festival amplifies the BAN9 artists’ calls for a ceasefire in support of Palestinian liberation. As a fully autonomous collective endeavor, we are devoted to solidarity with the people of Palestine. Please see the FRESH Festival Solidarity Statement here for more details on our commitments.
In solidarity with the artists involved in this action, we affirm and support their following demands to YBCA:
Make a public and internal commitment to The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
Stop censoring artists’ language, work, and programming that involves and centers Palestinian liberation.
Remove Zionist board members and funders.
Call for an immediate ceasefire and the ending of US aid to Israel.
Address the mistreatment of artists participating in Bay Area Now 9 and implement concrete structural changes to provide better care, support, and equal representation in the museum space and programming.
Serve the values of your mission as a space “that fosters meaningful connection for all,” is civically engaged, and “empowers artists” and the communities they serve, or revise your statements to reflect the exclusion, mistreatment, and censorship of artists by the museum.
Develop a policy of transparency regarding funding sources for artists’ work in the museum.
Include and center Palestinian and Arab artists in your exhibitions and programming.
Respect and defend the creative autonomy of the artists who show at YBCA.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT:
Sign the Letter - Tell YBCA: Stop Censoring Art for Palestine
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-ybca-stop-censoring-art-for-palestine
Pledge not to visit or support YBCA until they stop the censorship and meet the artists’ demands.
We urge our Bay Area artist communities to extend their support to the Bay Area Now 9 and the message they’re advancing.
Follow them here for more:
@kilns
@sholehasgary
@jeffcheung1
@craigcalderwood
@champchampchampoy
@creolemaroon
@t_r_a_c_y_r_e_n
@spikeleila
@bluekaza
This action was part of the #LoveLetterToGaza #BayAreaNow9 protest organized by:
@uspcn
@palestinianfeministcollective
@bayareapym
@jvpbayarea
Thank you for your support of FRESH Festival and these powerful artists. Please stay tuned for updates and our rescheduled performances by following @freshfestivalsanfrancisco or visiting our website at www.freshfestival.org
In solidarity,
The FRESH Festival Curatorial and Organizing Team
to be unseen and Sorry I Missed Your Show artists
press on YBCA events:
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952460/artists-deface-work-ybca-pro-palestine-protest
https://ybca.org/statement-on-2-15-protest/
https://48hills.org/2024/02/artists-deface-protest-ybca-silence-allege-censorship-gaza-palestine/
https://www.freshfestival.org/solidarity-statement