Former workers at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) are alleging that their dismissals are linked to their organising in support of Palestine.
A statement posted Friday (5 July) by the group Cultural Workers Against Genocide (CWAG) claims that on 13 March, 14 members of staff at the ICA were informed that their roles were to be made redundant. Among those 14 were all the staffers who had been given informal warnings in October due to their involvement in writing and publishing a letter calling for the ICA to boycott Israel in the wake of the ongoing war in Gaza. The October letter was posted on the ICA website without authorisation from the institution’s management, the CWAG statement says.
Staff were told by ICA management that the layoffs were due to financial cuts. While the worker union’s demand for senior level pay cuts was rejected, it succeeded in saving three roles from redundancy, the statement says.
The CWAG statement makes a list of demands of the ICA, including to cease relations with Mishcon de Reya, a law firm that it says has close ties to the Israeli state; to commit fully to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel; and to divest from companies that “contribute to or profit from the Israeli occupation and the genocide of Palestinians”.
The ICA’s director Bengi Ünsal says in a statement to The Art Newspaper: “We have not been immune to the immense pressures that have affected many other arts charities and organisations in recent times—the pandemic, inflation and changing patterns in donations and grants have seen us run an operating deficit for the last few years.”
Ünsal adds: "While our reserves helped us through the initial period of turbulence, this was never going to be a realistic answer to the problem over the longer term. The board and senior leadership considered the matter carefully; however, we were left with no option other than to restructure the organisation, which sadly involved redundancies. Our priority throughout has been our colleagues and their wellbeing, and we have been doing everything we can to support them.”
But former staff members at the ICA dispute that financial reasons lie at the heart of the layoffs. One former worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells The Art Newspaper: “The ICA has been struggling financially for years. I believe they are using it as a smokescreen.”
The Art Newspaper understands that funding to the ICA was rescinded by at least one private donor due to reasons related to the Israel-Hamas war. This amount was “not significant”, the former worker says. They continue that following the posting of the October letter, the ICA submitted itself to a review by the Arts Council England (ACE), the national cultural funding body. ACE’s assessment found that there was no reason to rescind funding due to the letter. A spokesperson for the ICA declined to confirm or comment on these claims.
Protesters at the ICA during a Palestinian solidarity march last October Kabir Jhala
The ICA has been one of the most visibly pro-Palestinian art institutions in London. In October, it opened its venue to protestors marching in solidarity with Palestine and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This action was authorised by ICA management. The institution annually hosts a Palestinian film festival and its exhibition programme has included Palestinian artists. Nonetheless, the ICA has not stated its position on BDS, the CWAG statement says.
The ICA, like many London institutions last year, saw its funding from ACE reduced, by £200,000 per year in its case. In its latest financial statement, it lays out its budgetary challenges: “The adverse effect on all our income streams has been exacerbated by the rising cost of living for customers, coupled with price increases impacting the ICA’s cost base. […] Ongoing operating losses have continued to be sustained in fiscal year 2023/24, and this coupled with capital expenditure, has seen cash balances reduce.”
According to a spokesperson, the ICA's deficit for fiscal year 2023/24 is expected to be around £800,000.