Open Letter from Vivid Sydney 2025 Artists
Drop Airbnb sponsorship – Don’t art-wash apartheid!
As musicians and artists booked to perform at Vivid Sydney 2025, we are deeply concerned to learn that Vivid has partnered with Airbnb – a company that is complicit in Israel’s system of apartheid and violent expropriation of Palestinian land.
There are over 320 Airbnb listings in Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, some of them in homes stolen from Palestinian people. The International Court of Justice has declared these settlements illegal under international law, obliging member states – including Australia – to sever ties with any company conducting business there.
This week, as Vivid Sydney begins, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has reached its most monstrous stage yet. The UN has warned that 14,000 children could starve to death within days if Israel does not end its blockade.
As Sydney’s largest music and arts festival, it is appalling that Vivid and Destination NSW have chosen to accept sponsorship from a company that does business with apartheid and is complicit in Israel’s war of annihilation. Continuing this partnership makes Vivid itself complicit in normalising the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and “art-washing” Israel’s crimes.
To quote Amnesty International UK, “War crimes are not a tourist attraction – Airbnb, Booking.com and the wider business community should immediately sever all links with Israel’s illegal occupation and ongoing annexation of Palestinian territory.” In partnering with Airbnb, Vivid Sydney and the NSW Government are displaying a blatant disregard for international law and putting participating artists in an untenable position.
As artists, we cannot remain neutral. We support the growing number of artists that have withdrawn from Vivid Sydney in protest and we demand that the festival immediately cut ties with Airbnb.
Don’t light up Sydney with apartheid! Cut ties with Airbnb and Israeli apartheid NOW.
For more information on Airbnb and the tourism industry on illegal Israeli settlements see:
Sign the petition, by Stop the War on Palestine