Statement on the ‘Voices of Resilience’ Event at HOME

Comma Press and the producers behind Voices of Resilience welcome Home’s decision to reinstate the event. This is a potential watershed moment in the campaign against the intimidation that arts venues face for showcasing Palestinian artists and voices.

We are hugely grateful to have a commitment from HOME for broader dialogues about supporting political work and fostering greater community cohesion and look forward to forging that path.

We want to express our solidarity with HOME staff. For all of us involved in the showing of this work it has been a distressing time, on top of the news we are seeing from Gaza and the ongoing genocide being committed against Palestinian people.

We've been deeply moved and overwhelmed by the solidarity shown to us by the artist community, the protest community, and other communities in Manchester, whose actions in solidarity with Voices of Resilience stand as a testament to the strength of our collective voice.

We urge other venues and institutions to take inspiration from what has become a collaborative and active listening process between us and HOME. We hope that other venues and institutions can initiate fresh conversations with artists, speakers, and creators whose work has previously been sidelined or cancelled. We believe this is a critical step towards upholding values of artistic expression and inclusivity.

We still have faith in Manchester as a radical place.

- On behalf of Comma Press & the producers of Voices of Resilience