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| Filmmaker pulls out of 'grotesque charade' Davos and smashes TV in protest | Filmmaker pulls out of 'grotesque charade' Davos and smashes TV in protest |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A filmmaker withdrew from his role as Davos cultural leader before smashing a TV in protest, after labelling the World Economic Forum event a “grotesque charade.” | A filmmaker withdrew from his role as Davos cultural leader before smashing a TV in protest, after labelling the World Economic Forum event a “grotesque charade.” |
| Keiichi Matsuda took to Twitter to announce his departure from the summit, billed as an opportunity for 40 “cultural leaders” to “speak truth to power and inspire more responsive and responsible leadership”. | |
| Mr Matsuda wrote: “I'm officially withdrawing as a Davos cultural leader. I refuse to let my work be used to legitimise this grotesque charade #wef17.” | Mr Matsuda wrote: “I'm officially withdrawing as a Davos cultural leader. I refuse to let my work be used to legitimise this grotesque charade #wef17.” |
| The post was accompanied by a video in which the artist picks up a metal rope stand and slams it into a television screen. | The post was accompanied by a video in which the artist picks up a metal rope stand and slams it into a television screen. |
| The screen shatters and falls from its wall mount to the floor, with Mr Matsuda reassuring onlookers: “It’s my work, it’s OK." | |
| Mr Matsuda took to Medium shortly after to clarify the intentions behind the provocative statement. | |
| "After spending a day attending sessions and talking to people, I felt sick and depressed, and decided I couldn’t stay. I found a lot of things upsetting; the CEO of Wal-Mart talking about his commitment to ethics (NEWS: they are releasing a responsibly sourced t-shirt). The biggest mall operator in the middle east talking about his commitment to sustainability (he built a ski slope with real snow in Dubai)," he wrote. | |
| I started to feel that the whole purpose of the Arts and Culture programme, and the humanitarian and environmental themes of the event as a whole, were serving to legitimise the massively unjust system that the forum celebrates. To make it seem that we were doing something good, while in fact under the surface it’s the same old money, power and callous greed. These people are not stupid. The staff the participants, the delegates, everyone there knows that it’s not real, that its just theatre. Many people I spoke to confirmed this, with a kind of ‘it is what it is’ attitude. I found myself becoming complicit, lending my own work to support and validate the whole thing." | |
| He added: "I went to Davos with an open mind, and didn’t intend to make any kind of protest, but in the end destroying my own work was the only way I could see to leave cleanly. I’m glad I have the freedom to stand up to bulls**t." | |
| The annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos started on Tuesday, billed as bringing together political and business leaders with a mission to “improve the state of the world.” | |
| Mr Matsuda had been presenting his concept film, Hyper-Reality, as part of the Arts and Culture section of the event. | Mr Matsuda had been presenting his concept film, Hyper-Reality, as part of the Arts and Culture section of the event. |