A Statement on the Future of Edinburgh Zine Festival at Fruitmarket
Context
Edinburgh Zine Library has organised Edinburgh Zine Festival in partnership with Fruitmarket’s Artists’ Bookmarket since 2022.
We, and by extension zine makers and readers in Edinburgh and further afield, have benefited hugely from this relationship, including through use of their Warehouse space, support from Fruitmarket’s events and communications team members, and from the work of Fruitmarket staff in setting up the space and on the day.
Fruitmarket currently accepts £25,000 from the investment firm Baillie Gifford towards its education program, has previously accepted funding for exhibitions, and the chair of Fruitmarket’s board, Nick Thomas, is also Deputy Director of Client Services at Baillie Gifford. Baillie Gifford is a major funder of arts and culture in Edinburgh, and more widely across Scotland and England. But campaigns, particularly by Fossil Free Books and Art Workers for Palestine, have challenged Baillie Gifford’s investments in both illegal Israeli settlements and in the fossil fuel industry. In December 2023, a coalition of civil society groups named Baillie Gifford as a “top European investor in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
Before EZF2024 we published an open letter calling for:
Baillie Gifford to immediately divest from holdings in Cemex, Cisco Systems, and Booking Holdings.
Fruitmarket to immediately pressure Baillie Gifford for divestment of holdings in Cemex, Cisco Systems and Booking Holdings, and to cease accepting all future funding from Baillie Gifford if they do not.
Fruitmarket to immediately reaffirm their commitments to their ‘Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Statement’ by recognising the struggle for Palestinian liberation as inseparable from ‘champion[ing] the rights of people from marginalised groups, including people who experience racism, disabled people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, women and girls, people from low income backgrounds, working class, and older people.’
What has happened since
We have since met twice with Fruitmarket’s Director and Partnership’s Curator, once before EZF2024, and once afterwards in May 2024 where we were also joined by Nick Thomas (Chair of the Board at Fruitmarket, and Deputy Director of Client Services at Baillie Gifford) to discuss this open letter.
Fruitmarket have made it clear to us in our meetings that they do not consider themselves to be a political organisation, and will not be meeting any of the asks of our open letter. We believe that it is not possible for an organisation like Fruitmarket to be apolitical, and that their silence is tantamount to complicity. Fruitmarket are responsible for the laundering of Baillie Gifford’s reputation in spite of their unethical investments. Fruitmarket claims solidarity with Palestine through its programming. This is inadequate. All Scottish arts and culture organisations need to be explicit and unequivocal in their support for a free Palestine.
Fruitmarket have also stated that accepting funding from Baillie Gifford is an endorsement of Baillie Gifford. A spokesperson for Baillie Gifford openly acknowledges that they cannot be an ethical company, stating: “When it comes to subjective ethical situations relating to particular sectors (such as fossil fuels) or countries (such as Israel), our clients set the parameters and determine what to exclude or divest. We are not in a position to make exclusions of that nature based on our own ethical judgments, or in response to pressure from outside groups.”
We do not think that an unethical investment firm like Baillie Gifford should wield the power and influence it does in Scottish arts and culture. As a DIY organisation, we refuse this vision of an Edinburgh where our arts and cultural spaces and organisations are beholden to funders who profit indiscriminately from genocide and fossil fuels.
Fruitmarket may refuse to draw a line between themselves and the on-going genocide and devastation in Palestine. We reject this. We understand us all as implicated in the structures and systems that sustain the genocide in Palestine, and that every action counts. To claim powerlessness is to absolve ourselves of our collective responsibility to a liberated Palestine in our lifetime.
To this end, we will not be organising future Edinburgh Zine Festivals in partnership with Fruitmarket.
Edinburgh Zine Library continues to call on Fruitmarket to reconsider its position, to take an explicit stance in support of a free Palestine, and to pressure Baillie Gifford to divest from their holdings.
We continue to demand Baillie Gifford divest, and support Art Workers for Palestine Scotland’s campaigning on Baillie Gifford and Scottish Cultural Organisations, and Fossil Free Books’ ongoing campaigning calling for Baillie Gifford to divest from the fossil fuel industry and from companies that profit from Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide.