Various artists have pulled out from performing at this year’s edition of SXSW sharing: “A music festival should not include war profiteers”.
American musician Squirrel Flower, real name Ella O’Connor Williams, is among those who have withdrawn. She was set to perform at a handful of official showcases at the formidable arts festival – which covers ground across the entertainment and technology industry in Austin, Texas on March 12 and 14.
Williams will still perform at some unofficial showcases that have no ties to SXSW in Austin. Taking to social media, the singer expressed her decision to pull from the famous festival and said in a statement: “I have decided to pull out of my official SXSW showcases in protest of SXSW’s ties to the defence industry and in support of the Palestinian people.”
She continued: “There are many ways SXSW is harmful to working musicians, but I am pulling out specifically because of the fact that SXSW is platforming defence contractors including Raytheon subsidiaries as well as the US Army, a main sponsor of the festival.
“Genocide profiteers like Raytheon supply weapons to the IDF, paid for by our taxes,” she continued. “A music festival should not include war profiteers. I refuse to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labour in protest.”
UMAW supports the Austin for Palestine coalition and artists like @sqrrlflwr @okayshalom and @elizamclamb , who have pulled out of their official SXSW showcases in solidarity with Palestine. Warmongers have no place at SXSW! pic.twitter.com/zuxBG6IZzv
— United Musicians and Allied Workers (@UMAW_) March 5, 2024
The US Army is a recurring exhibitor at the event, and Collins Aerospace — a subsidiary of RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon — is a participant this year as well.
Other acts who have also pulled out from performing at the festival include Eliza McLamb and Okay Shalom. They have both shared statements on their social media pages as well with McLamb sharing: “I have pulled out of my official SXSW showcase after learning that the US Army is a major sponsor of the event.”
She continued: “I will never put my name on or perform my labour for an event in service of the US war machine, and especially not now as they continue to fuel the ongoing violence against Palestinians. Blood money has no place in music.”
Okay Shalom shared: “I was born to Nigerian parents in the United States, and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. I know too much about the effects of colonialism and apartheid to sit idly by. I have seen too much to be a bystander. I believe in the freedom of all oppressed people everywhere. I don’t believe in the US army, and I don’t believe they belong at a music festival (or anywhere) as a super sponsor.”
“I am not able to go along with something I know is fundamentally wrong. I am not able to abandon my morals for the sake of exposure,” she added. “I am not able to process the insurmountable grief and cruelty the Palestinian people face on a daily basis. I don’t think they are able to either. Who is engineered to bear witness to daily massacres and an apartheid state inflicted famine? Who is engineered to survive that?”
Last year’s edition of SXSW saw the likes of Anderson .Paak as DJ Pee .Wee, Bartees Strange, Blondshell, Bellah, Venbee, Genesis Owusu, Boygenius, 070 Shake and more perform.