[spectre] TRACING UNDERCURRENTS: Sonic Routes Between

[Noam Knoller]

On 14/10/05, helen evans <helen at hehe.org> wrote:
> If we don't practice a cultural boycott, aren't we just saying, it's
> (cultural) business as usual?  and that yes, Israel can present itself
> as a 'normal' and 'respectable' member of the international community
> (with an eclectic electronic music scene etc. just like everywhere else).

You would perhaps have a point if this event was supported by the
Israeli government or even used by it to represent Israel, or if the
artists invited were in any way, shape or form supported by Israeli
public money, which is definitely not the case. These are privately
operating fringe musicians, virtually unknown in Israel outside their
small scene of, at most, a few hundred. Here's the list of
organizations funding the event. None of them is an official Israeli
body:

TRACING UNDERCURRENTS is kindly supported by VSBfonds, Mondriaanfonds,
Fonds voor Amateur en Podiumkunsten, SNAIT Foundation, Stichting Levi
Lassen, Fonds voor Podium-Programmering & Marketing, STEIM. The
research phase of Xeno_Sonic was supported by The Netherlands
Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture

> Isn't a cultural boycott the very least we can do?

Isn't this a tad narcissistic? There's actually a lot you can do
before you initiate a cultural boycott of fringe artists. You also
have to demonstrate that such a boycott is effective in furthering
your cause. Come to think of it, articulating such a cause would be a
very welcome first step, and probably much more effective than
disengaging from cultural dialogue.

> A peaceful economic response that hurts Israeli pockets and pride...

I think you have a misplaced perception of the economic scale of this
particular cultural scene. I don't think any of these musicians
actually earns a living from it. They probably all have crappy day
jobs, or at most a low-waged journalism stint. Nor could there
possibly be any national pride involved, since they are virtually
anonymous.

Unless (as was the case with apartheid SA) you have a clear solution
to the middle east conflict, one that enjoys the support of most of
the people actually involved in that conflict and consequently (at
least potentially) the support of world public opinion, and unless you
can show that a blanket cultural boycott of Israelis is the next best
step to take (after you've already severed, for instance, your own
state's 'security' ties with the Israeli 'security' industry, or had
the UN sanction your solution and condemn the Israeli government for
failing to accept it), then such a response can also be construed as a
random tactic meant to satisfy your own sense of pride and position
yourself comfortably in a field of political activism at the expense
of fellow artists who (in most cases) just happened to be born into a
very unfortunate situation.

The logic of a blanket cultural boycott is the logic of disengagement,
as practiced by the Israeli government which, for the time being at
least, prefers unilateral steps and an 8 meter tall fence/concrete
wall to negotiations. Is this the logic you want to support?

--
Noam Knoller
Cinema, Interaction, Emotion
http://www.knoller.com
knoller at gmail.com
(m) +31.6.42801925
(h)  +31.20.7769260