“The artwork appears to make use of politically loaded symbolism related to the people of Palestine” the venue said
Strange Brew Bristol(Image: Strange Brew)
A Jewish band has had its Bristol gig cancelled after the venue received complaints over the album artwork of one of its members which it said could be interpreted as ‘politically offensive’.
British band Oi Va Voi were due to perform at Strange Brew in Bristol on Wednesday (May 21) night, but just hours before the gig the band took to their Instagram page to announce the show had been cancelled by the venue due to ‘pressure’ from activist groups.
The band, who formed in London in 2000, perform music from the Klezmer genre – which is a type of folk music traditionally performed in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.
In the statement on Instagram the band said the decision to cancel was a “clear case of discrimination” and due to the ethnicity of some of its Israeli members.
They described themselves as a “non-political band who plays to bring people together, not to polarise them”.
Issuing its own statement on social media in response to the claims Strange Brew, which is located in Fairfax Street, said the decision to cancel the show was made following complaints over the album artwork of one of the band’s members which it said contained “politically loaded symbolism related to the people of Palestine”.
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The artwork in question appears to be the 2024 solo album ‘Welcoming the Golden Age’ by band member Zohara, which features her naked in a field surrounded by watermelons.
Watermelons have become widely associated with the Pro-Palestine movement, historically they were used as an alternative to the Palestinian flag when the Israeli government placed restrictions on displaying the flag.
However in its statement Oi Va Voi called claims about the album artwork ‘untrue’ and ‘misguided’.
The band wrote: “After 20 years of playing in many countries to audiences of many backgrounds, cultures and religions, we find ourselves facing the cancellation of one of our gigs in our home country, the UK.
“The concert was cancelled by the venue due to pressure it received from activist groups, who contacted the venue making untrue or misguided claims about ourselves and Oi Va Voi’s music.
“Anyone who knows Oi Va Voi knows that we sing songs which are socially conscious, humanitarian, and speak to audiences across divides. We are a non-political band who plays to bring people together, not to polarise them. And we are proud of it.
“But the groups applying pressure have clearly not listened to our output, or seen us perform. They are taking one fact, the ethnicity of some of our members, and using it as evidence for damning accusations about our beliefs and our right to perform in our home country.
“We believe this is a clear case of discrimination, and the tactics of intimidation are identical to those used by far-fight groups across the world.”
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The post went on to say: “There really are no winners in this decision. The bands lose, the audience loses, the divisions in society are widened, and the issues facing the world are not improved at all.
“We hope that the urgency of this will be recognised by the gatekeepers of the UK arts scene, and we call on the government to pay closer attention to the increase of ethically-based censorship of the arts in the UK.”
The band also referenced the cancellation of Jonny Greenwood’s concert with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa in Bristol and London ‘due to similar pressures’ and added: “Drafting new legislation would help to protect venues from intimidation from pressure groups, so we can all continue to live in a free and pluralistic society.”
In a statement in response posted today (Thursday) Strange Brew outlined why and how the decision was made to cancel the show.
The venue said: “Up until Monday the gig was going ahead as planned. However on that day we received contact from campaign groups and members of the public asking for it to be cancelled.
“A meeting was held on Tuesday between our venue, a member of the band and the promoter. There we advised that we would be cancelling the show due to some album artwork from 2024 we had been presented with, which was a solo project of one of the performers in the band.
“We were of the view it could be interpreted as politically offensive, given the ongoing and worsening situation in Gaza, and it had already been interpreted as such by the groups who contacted us.”
The venue went on to say: “The artwork appears to make use of politically loaded symbolism related to the people of Palestine. As with any artwork, we acknowledge the meaning of it is open to interpretation, based on individual understanding and perspectives.
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“At our meeting the band representative explained that the artist had stated that the image was intended as a comment on the relationship between femininity and nature. We acknowledge this.
“However we concluded that regardless of the intended meaning, the use of politically loaded symbolism in this way – by anyone of any background – is ambiguous and could therefore come across as politically insensitive and/or offensive to the people of Palestine and by our audiences.
“For this reason we could not be confident that platforming the artist at our venue was consistent with our ethical values.
“This is not to say we believe the artist (or the band) hold views that do not align with our ethics. It is merely stating that the artwork we were presented with risks being read in this way due to its ambiguity and left us unable to proceed with the show.
“To be absolutely clear, we have never and would never exclude anyone – artists or customers – on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality.”
The gig controversy comes during a week where the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine has dominated headlines. Earlier today it was reported two Israeli embassy staff were killed in Washington DC, USA, in what has been described as an ‘antiemetic’ shooting.
On Wednesday the UK government announced it would send £4m worth of aid to Gaza as it as it ramps up pressure on the Israeli government to lift a blockade on the region.
And on Tuesday, the Government suspended trade deal talks with Israel, sanctioned West Bank settlers and summoned the country’s ambassador, while foreign Secretary David Lammy described Israel’s actions as “monstrous”.