Big 4 firm dumps Biennale after latest storm
PwC has ended its partnership with the Biennale of Sydney after backlash over a performer glorifying “martyrs”.
“BIG 4” accounting firm PwC has ended its partnership with the Biennale of Sydney as the fallout continues over a performer who glorified “martyrs” during a concert last Friday.
American DJ Zubeyda Muzeyyen, performing as DJ Haram, referenced what she called “the Zio-Australian-Epstein empire” and chanted “Until Palestine is free, none of us is free”, “Long live the resistance” and “Glory to all our martyrs” during her set at the prestigious arts festival.
A PwC spokesperson said this week, “We entered this partnership to support an experience and series of arts and creative culture events which would be welcoming and inclusive for everyone. Following comments made by a performer at the opening night event, we no longer have confidence that the festival can meet our expectations.
“We condemn the comments made and reject antisemitism and all forms of hate.”
The firm has cancelled a client event which was scheduled for Thursday and its collateral will be removed from Biennale material.
The Biennale said it “did not commission, approve, or have prior knowledge of these specific remarks” which do not “represent the views of the Biennale of Sydney, our board, or our government and corporate partners”.
The controversy is the latest in a series of incidents that have plagued the Biennale.
The appointment of Emirati princess Hoor al-Qasimi as artistic director drew criticism from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) at the time. Al-Qasimi’s father has previously written “The Zionist presence in Palestine is a cancerous growth within the heart of the Arab nation”, and According to The Australian, Al-Qasimi herself said last year, “None of us will be free until all of us are free … so free Palestine.”
In January, Biennale ambassador Bhenji Ra faced concerns over social media posts, including one describing the Bondi Beach terror attack as targeting “a Zionist Jewish-supremacist organisation”.
In February, publisher Morry Schwartz confronted the board over Palestinian-Australian artist Feras Shaheen’s social media posts likening himself and philanthropist John Gandel to Nazis.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the social media activity of artists slated to exhibit at the Biennale had led to concerns the entire program would carry anti-Jewish rhetoric. “The state government can’t rely on the Biennale’s board to police harmful language and acts,” Ossip said.
ECAJ co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the incident reflected broader problems in Australia’s arts sector.
“I hope our festivals wake up to the reality that low bigotry and Hamas exhibitionism is no substitute for talent and audiences are smart enough to recognise that,” he said.