Laurie Andersen, a multi-talented artist and leading name in experimental pop music, had agreed to be a guest professor at the Bina Bausch Chair at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, but the institution backed out. Signed A letter against apartheid Initiated by Palestinian artists, the US agency sought to find out if it had criticized Israeli policy after the October 7 Hamas attack.
“University, Pina Bash Foundation is not easy [que patrocina a cátedra] and Larry Anderson made this decision,” according to the company's website.
“The question is not whether my political views have changed. The real question is to know why this question is being asked in the first place,” said the artist. “Considering this situation, I have withdrawn from the project. “My colleagues at Phokwang University and the Pina Bash Foundation discussed this with me at length, and we came to a collective conclusion that this was the best option,” concluded Laurie Anderson, who will take up the role in April.
The university justified its concern that conditions for “focused” and “disruptive” teaching should not exist, arguing that the document signed by Anderson supported demands for financial and cultural pressure on Israel by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement. ), which is a resolution approved by the German parliament in 2019 that it deems anti-Semitic, bans state funding of any structures or people who have ties to or express support for them.
On January 4, the Berlin state government went even further by approving an interim “anti-discrimination rule” that artists must now comply with in order to apply for any public funding. The decision sparked massive protests in the cultural world, with thousands of artists threatening to boycott cultural institutions across the country.
Since the October 7 Hamas attack, there has been an increasingly intense debate in Germany about the limits of artistic freedom and expression, with many museums, universities and other institutions canceling artists and intellectuals who only criticize on social media. An Israeli response to a Hamas attack, or an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian victims of the Gaza invasion.
The guest professorship at the Bina Pasch chair was created only in 2022, and Laurie Andersen will be the second person to occupy it after the Serbian artist Marina Abramovic, if he does not already join an extensive list of German and foreign artists. Those who left their positions following their stances against current Israeli policy or saw their projects canceled.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”