News 12 Dec 2024
News
HIAP is an Apartheid Free Zone
Background
On 7 June 2024, HIAP Spring 2024 Residents collectively withdrew from the HIAP Open Studios as a call for action to HIAP to publicly extend solidarity for the Palestinian struggle for decolonization and to support the political, civil and human rights of all Palestinians.
The call included a series of recommendations to HIAP, including committing to participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) Movement and to becoming an Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ).
You can read the Residents statement, and HIAP’s responses here:
https://www.hiap.fi/event/hiap-open-studios-spring-2024/
On 11 October 2024 HIAP provided an update on the approach taken to making a decision on becoming an Apartheid Free Zone. You can read about this approach here:
Decision
It was agreed during the Autumn 2025 HIAP Members Meeting that HIAP will become an Apartheid Free Zone.
This decision was made following extensive consultation with HIAP’s staff, board, member organisations, partners, funders and the artistic communities HIAP is part of. We thank everyone who provided advice and support throughout this process.
We believe this decision is in line with HIAP’s values and ways of working. And will do the necessary work to ensure we uphold the PACBI guidelines and commit to the principles of the global BDS Movement in our day to day practices by:
- Not having relations with complicit Israeli institutions and corporations.
- Refusing to participate in any kind of cultural event organised in apartheid Israel, or with its support, or that of any complicit Israeli institutions, or lobby groups.
- Rejecting funding and any form of sponsorship from the Israeli government, complicit Israeli institutions or lobby groups for the development of our activities.
- Respecting the Palestinian consensus-based anti-normalization guidelines.
- Not having financial or professional relations with international institutions or corporations complicit in Israel’s genocidal, apartheid, and settler colonial regime, as defined by the BDS movement.
We recognise that all our struggles for social, racial, gender, climate, and economic justice and for self-determination are deeply interconnected and can only gain strength and power from mutual support and solidarity.
FAQs regarding HIAP’s decision can be found at the end of this news item.
For anyone interested in joining the BDS Movement and becoming an Apartheid Free Zone, we would recommend utilising the extensive resources on bdsmovement.net/apartheid-free-zones including the AFZ Organising Guide and Toolkit. As well as speaking to Sumud (The Finnish Palestinian Network) who have provided their expertise and guidance to HIAP during the decision making process.
HIAP will continue to embed the commitment to the BDS Movement in our daily working practices. We will continue to seek opportunities to support Palestinian artists through our cultural activities.
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Frequently Asked Questions
As a small entity with no dedicated communication capacity, we are not always able to respond to questions. With this in mind, we hope this FAQ answers questions you may have.
Please note that there are extensive FAQs on the BDS Movement here, should you wish to understand the movement more. The FAQs here relate primarily to HIAP’s decision making approach, as well as commonly asked questions which came up throughout the process.
1. Does the BDS Movement target individuals?
The movement does not target individuals. Individuals regardless of their nationality will continue to be welcome at HIAP. We will continue to work to our values including Hospitality:
HIAP maintains a safe and open atmosphere, which encourages collaboration and learning. The residents feel at home and welcome to stay at HIAP.’ (Pg 2).
The BDS movement is an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed, on principle, to all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.
2. Should HIAP remain politically impartial?
HIAP has and will continue to stand for peace.
Our work is inherently political in many ways, and politics are present in our programme. HIAP will work in the coming months to define a campaign and movement policy that will clearly outline for our staff and residents how we approach demonstrating our support.
3. Will HIAP’s partnerships or funding be affected?
HIAP does not currently work with or receive funding from Israeli institutions.
We will not require our partner organisations to also commit to the BDS movement.
We work with a diverse group of international partners and funders, some of whom may not continue to work with HIAP as a result of this decision. We hope this will not be the case and value all of our partnerships and what they have brought to HIAP’s programme. But we understand that with a network as geographically broad as ours that this may be a reality we will face.
We are also hopeful that this decision will result in new partnerships and collaborations within the international network of cultural organisations who are Apartheid Free Zones to create new opportunities for Palestinian artists to be part of our programme.
4. Does HIAP have the capacity to do the internal work required to be an Apartheid Free Zone?
We have reviewed the resources and toolkits available on bdsmovement.net/apartheid-free-zones including the AFZ Organising Guide and Toolkit. And have spoken with other Finland based cultural organisations who have joined the movement. As well as Sumud (The Finnish Palestinian Network) who have provided their expertise and guidance to HIAP during the decision making process.
Through this we understand that there are minimal operational changes needed to follow the movement’s guidelines, and we are confident it presents only small capacity needs.
Separately to this, we are also pursuing a number of projects and new collaborations which will create opportunities to work with Palestinian artists and cultural organisations. All of this will need additional funding to facilitate any programmes, which will be incorporated into HIAP’s strategic planning for the coming years.
Please see this Open Call opportunity in collaboration with Titanik for Palestinian artists.
5. How will HIAP ensure the principles of the BDS Movement and Apartheid Free Zone campaign are upheld?
We will incorporate our declaration into important orientation items such as our Staff Handbook and Resident Agreements and welcome packs. We will have clear labelling in our venues and residency spaces. As well as facilitate any necessary discussions within the staff and artist community to ensure the principles of the BDS Movement are understood.
The process has also provided the staff and board with an opportunity to reflect on what additional work we may want to do, to ensure we’re able to support our artistic community and team. This includes addressing gaps in some of our processes and policies which we will address in 2025, including:
– Anti discrimination policy
– Safer / Braver spaces guidelines
– Training (for example Cultural Safety training)
– Movement and Campaign Policy
This process has provided an opportunity for in-depth and meaningful dialogue amongst the HIAP staff, board and artistic community which we will continue to foster and which may help us address any future areas for development in this regard.
HIAP may update this FAQ with further information in the future.