Benedetti vows Festival will 'double down' on post-war ethos

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

Benedetti said the festival, which was launched in 1947, was determined to ensure it offered a protected space for 'artistic reflection on the pain and suffering of people from around the world.'
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However Benedetti said the festival would not be 'disintegrating' any of its corporate partnerships, despite calls from pro-Palestine campaigners to sever links with [[Edinburgh]]-based finance firm Baillie Gifford over the company's links with Israel.
The Herald told last year how Baillie Gifford held more than £60m worth of shares in defence giant Babcock International, which has been linked with state-owned [[Israel]]i arms companies.
Nicola Benedetti is overseeing her third programme as Edinburgh International Festival director.
Benedetti said the festival did not want to 'hide' from scrutiny over how it is funded, but instead insisted would be responding by 'doubling down' on its key purpose of bringing artists together.
She suggested it would be impossible for the festival, which has secured almost £12m in Scottish Government funding for the next three years, to be supported by 'clean money' in future.
This year's festival, which has launched its first performances, will feature more than artists from different 42 nations.
The official programme recalls how the festival was instigated in 1947 by Rudolf Bing, a 'cultural pioneer and Jewish refugee of the Nazi regime,' with the first event 'transcending political boundaries through a global celebration of performing arts.
In an interview with The Herald ahead of the festival's opening weekend, Benedetti said: 'For some people, a festival at the height of artistic excellence is an escape moment and a step away from the daily routines, thoughts and experiences of everyday life.
'There are some aspects of what we present that is deeply, beautiful and fun. We need to protect that.
'But with the festival having such an origin story of depth and the overcoming of deeply-factured relationships we also have a serious job to do to bring together and present otherwise disparate and sometimes opposing viewpoints.
'A changed mind and the presentation of an idea always has the possibility of changing the world for the better.
'It is not a requirement that if you come to our festival you must enter into some kind of activism, but that aspect of our festival is there.'
Benedetti, the first Scottish director of the EIF and the first woman to be appointed, said she would not have taken on the role if she not believe in the importance of its founding principles.
She told The Herald: 'I feel a deep and constant pain over what is happening in Gaza.
'I don't think it's wrong or strange for any of us to question the weight and worth of what we are doing given the intensity and volume of suffering unfold before our eyes, and the strength of our individual conviction about where we stand and what it says about our identity.
'That naturally reflects on every decision we make. It is front of mind for me on a continuous basis.
'For a festival like ours, to be able to give voice to artists from around the world, where perspectives can be challenged and we can have conversations which are either not being had, or are difficult to have in a more strictly-controlled politically event, I think our space should be protected for all that to be possible.'
The festival is among a number of Scottish arts organisations targeted by the campaign group Art Workers For [[Palestine]] Scotland over its backing by Baillie Gifford.
However the EIF recently backed an open letter from arts organisations across the UK warning of the impact of 'relentless negativity' over corporate sponsorship.
Benedetti said: 'There is no hiding from that scrutiny, but I also don't wish the festival to.
'We have to reaffirm within our walls on a daily basis our purpose, our decisions and whether we are standing where we should be standing to protect space for artistic reflection on the pain and suffering of people from around the world. It is my job and the job of the festival to uphold that space.
'To go out in the street and protest is a personal choice for many of us.
'But this festival has founding principles. I wouldn't have taken this job if I didn't believe in the importance of them and their offer to humanity.
'It is unquestionable that we should be scrutinised. But our answer to that is a doubling down on what our purpose is.
"That cannot be deterred. It can be deepened and strengthen, but I am unwavering on what our purpose is."
Benedetti said the festival had been 'constantly' reworking its policies, including on ethical funding and sustainability.
But she added: 'A huge amount of our last strategy day with our board was about trying to address these issues because we take them unbelievably seriously.
'But we have a job to do, and we are trying to focus on doing that job well, which is about putting the greatest artists who have the most to say on our stages.
'Festivals have got to be funded by somebody. Where are you going to find a clean money source that is absolute and that picture is not going to change the digger you deep? Does government money count? Does the money of an individual?'
Benedetti admitted it was a challenge for the arts world to balance providing space for people with 'strongly-held beliefs' with 'protecting yourself to be able to do the job that you believe in.'
She added: 'We don't know what we are going to see this summer. All we can do is scrutinise our own choices and prepare as much as possible.
'We are not trying to head towards a disintegration of corporate partnerships.
'We want to work with the right people. We are incredibly pro-active with the choices we make and the relationships we have. We value all of the partnerships that we have hugely.'
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