Arnolfini apologises for pulling Palestinian film event

Arnolfini gallery has issued an apology expressing "regret" over its decision to withdraw from hosting two planned events as part of Bristol Palestine Film Festival in November.

The international art centre’s decision not to host a screening of the coming-of-age film Farha, followed by a panel discussion and a live poetry night as part of the festival, was met with widespread and ongoing complaints, eliciting a critical open letter garnering 2,300 signatures as well as a series of sit-ins that prompted the venue to close.

A statement issued by Arnolfini's trustees said that “following a period of reflection and deliberation”, the venue "sincerely acknowledge[s] the significant impact of recent programming decisions… We express our deep regret for the distress caused to those we consider allies.”

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Explaining its original decision to drop the events, Arnolfini cited the “difficulty for arts charities hosting events that might be construed as political activity”.

The gallery said because the events included film, performance and discussion panels it "could not be confident that the event would not stray into political activity.”

In December, more than 1,000 cultural figures, including the artists Brian Eno, Juliet Stevenson and Alice Oswald, signed a second open letter refusing to work with Arnolfini.

The signatories said that “the decision by a publicly-funded venue to censor Palestinian film and poetry events is a particularly concerning part of an alarming pattern of censorship and repression within the arts sector.”

Arnolfini is a charity and part of the University of the West of England. As a National Portfolio Organisation it receives £696,780 a year from Arts Council England and is also supported by Ashley Clinton Barker-Mills Trust.

Recently, two publishing companies, Book Works and Hajar Press, have also joined the boycott of Arnolfini, saying they felt the programming decision had "silenced Palestinian voices and narratives".  

The companies said they would not engage with Arnolfini, including supplying titles to its bookshop, until its leadership “publicly commits to uphold freedom of expression, without exception for Palestine consistently, and genuinely engages with Bristol’s arts community to rectify the harm it has caused”.

'Robust internal processes'

In its statement, Arnolfini “apologised without reservation” that its original communication about cancelling the event was “not clear enough”.

“What we have learnt in recent weeks has guided us to find better ways to set out our programming decision making and the associated communication processes. Following a period of reflection and deliberation, we are implementing robust internal processes which we feel will best serve the Arnolfini, its contributors and its audiences in the future. 

“We want to thank all of the individual artists and collectives that have already reached out to us. We are very appreciative for all of the helpful ongoing conversations taking place. We are also reaching out to artists, partners, and sector organisations to rebuild relationships.”