23 August 2022
Pop-Kultur is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe of the State of Berlin, the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF), and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Individual artists can receive support from the national cultural institute or embassy of their respective country for travel and the realisation of their projects – this is a common practice within international cultural exchange. We work with all countries officially recognised by the Federal Republic of Germany. Partners and sponsors have no influence over the programming of the festival. The support of cultural institutions of individual countries depends on the artistic decisions made in the process of programming the festival.
As it was in 2017, 2018 and 2019, Pop-Kultur has once again been declared a boycott target of the international BDS network (»Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions«) in 2022. The goal of this campaign is the economic, cultural, and political isolation of Israel. Various artists have received messages asking them to cancel their already confirmed performances and boycott the festival.
The Commissioned Work BĘÃTFÓØT feat. Kunty Klub receives a project grant from the Cultural Department of the Embassy of Israel. Currently, the Embassy of Israel is one of three institutions providing artist and travel support. The Canada Council for the Arts supports the Canadian act Cartel Madras with a travel grant (currently still processing, the artists applied themselves), also Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques (WBM) supports Aksak Maboul with a travel grant (Due to health reasons – one of the band members is suffering from severe covid after-effects – the concert is moved to 2023.). The corresponding logos for these grants were uploaded to our website after; either we received confirmation of the support from the institutions mentioned, or we knew that we could expect a positive decision in the case of Canada.
In our offers to artists, we point out that Pop-Kultur can receive support from cultural institutions within the framework of international cultural exchange. These offers have already been sent out since December 2021. These offers are presented to all artists before the contract is signed. In the communication with the artists, we also reference previous BDS campaigns in connection with the festival.
Pop-Kultur’s position is the same as in 2017, 2018 and 2019. If people do not want to perform at the festival because we receive an accommodation, travel or project grant from the Cultural Department of the Israeli embassy in Berlin, we regret that decision, but we accept it. The refusal to perform, the boycott, is not our decision. We are always open to constructive dialogue, because it is important to us to seek out meaningful exchange. We continue to believe that discourse and dialogue are the only way to deal with conflict.
Update 23 August:
Lafawndah has cancelled her appearance with reference to the BDS campaign.
Alewya has cancelled her appearance with reference to the BDS campaign.
Franky Gogo has cancelled his performance with reference to the BDS campaign.
Update 24 August:
Gigsta has cancelled her appearance with reference to the BDS campaign.