Cultural crossfire Artists boycott events over Gaza

Every May the UK music industry descends on Brighton for the Great Escape, the "showcase" event that has helped to launch the careers of stars including Stormzy, AlunaGeorge, Fat White Family and Anna Calvi.

- Lanre Bakare

Crowds pile in to dozens of venues as punters and industry talent spotters try to get a glimpse of acts who may have the unique spark needed to become breakout stars. But at this year's event something was missing: more than a third of the bill.

Keynote speakers did not appear, headliners refused to show up and entire showcases were scrapped as tensions caused by the IsraelHamas conflict played out.

Many acts withdrew because of a pro-Palestinian boycott aimed at the event's sponsorship by Barclays bank, which campaigners claim has increased its investment in arms companies that trade with Israel. Acts who signed an open letter calling for the Great Escape to cut its ties with the bank included Massive Attack and Idles.

Bands Boycott Barclays (BBB), the group behind the campaign, said the bank was "laundering its reputation" by partnering with the music festival, an accusation Barclays denied.

The Great Escape was not the first cultural event to be affected by the conflict. In March the Barbican backed out of hosting a London Review of Books lecture series because it included a talk by the writer Pankaj Mishra that was titled The Shoah after Gaza.