Belgian artist Miet Warlop cancels scheduled presentation at the Israel festival due to societal pressures.
"Mystery Magnet" by Miet Warlop(photo credit: REINOUT HIEL)ByHELEN KAYEBuckling under a relentless onslaught of cultural and academic pressure, Belgian artist Miet Warlop and her Campo Arts Center have canceled their presentation of Mystery Magnet at the Israel Festival.“We tried to explain our position,” Warlop wrote, “but it seems there’s no longer any place for decisions based on art...and the pressure to conform with [society’s] demands was simply too great.”Israel Festival general director Eyal Sher, deploring what he termed the company’s surrender to cultural terrorism, invited Warlop to reconsider “and above all to stand firm against the forces of intolerance and extremism.”One cannot help wondering whether some of the pressure was fiscal, as in “go, and you’ll lose your funding.”RECOMMENDED STORIESIsrael Navy attacks Houthis for first time in Hodeidah Port strikeJUNE 10, 2025Russia to construct eight nuclear power plants in IranJUNE 9, 2025Greta Thunberg among voluntarily deported activists, eight remain in detentionJUNE 10, 2025Jewish woman reveals plot to poison Israelis at Boom Festival in PortugalJUNE 9, 2025