Artists boycott Sydney arts festival over Manus Island row
Sydney Biennale participants protest event sponsor’s alleged role in Australian immigration detention centres.
A handout image released by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship on 01 August 2013 shows an asylum seeker arriving on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. (EPA/DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT)
Artists are withdrawing from Sydney’s 19th Biennale arts festival to protest the event sponsor’s involvement with Australian-run immigration detention centres at Manus and Nauru islands. The festival, set for March 21, is sponsored by the investment company Transfield Holdings, which is alleged to have security contracts with the controversial offshore detention centres that have been criticised for alleged human rights violations against asylum seekers.
The protesters demand the Biennale of Sydney board sever ties with the Australian company. In a joint statement, the artists wrote, “We withdraw [from the Biennale] to send a message to the Biennale urging them, again, to act ethically and transparently. To send a message to Transfield that we will not add value to their brand and its inhumane enterprise”.