{"id":35565,"date":"2014-02-14T01:33:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T15:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=35565"},"modified":"2014-02-18T23:34:13","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T13:34:13","slug":"boycott-the-19th-biennale-of-sydney-19bos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=35565","title":{"rendered":"Boycott the 19th Biennale of Sydney [#19bos]"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Update (February 19)<\/strong> : The boycott campaign now has a website<\/a> and Facebook page<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago Matt Kiem wrote ‘An art educator\u2019s open letter to colleagues about detention profits and the Sydney Biennale’<\/a> (Crossborder Operational Matters, February 4, 2014). It outlines the case for artists and the public to boycott the event on the basis of its sponsorship by Transfield, an Australian-based corporation which profits from the asylum seeker industry.<\/p>\n

The xborderoperationalmatters blog is an excellent resource for matters relating to the policing of Australian borders; RISE<\/a> is a grassroots initiative “and the first refugee and asylum seeker welfare and advocacy organisation in Australia to be run by refugees, asylum seekers, and ex-detainees; as such, we view those who seek assistance from RISE as members and participants, not \u201cclients\u201d.”<\/p>\n

Otherwise, #19BOS<\/a> is a tumblr which compiles a contact list for artists appearing at the Biennale. In Sydney on Monday, February 17 at 6.30pm at Elwyn Lynn Conference Room, College of Fine Art, Oxford Street, there’ll be an “open discussion on how artists and activists can protest against Transfield’s sponsorship of the 2014 Sydney Biennale”.<\/p>\n

The following video has been created in support of the boycott:<\/p>\n