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The American singer-songwriter Moses Sumney canceled his performance Tuesday night at the Montreal International Jazz Festival to protest the connection between the event and a show on slavery directed by whites
. support "SLAV", a theatrical production on black slavery which he says constitutes cultural appropriation. Instead of appearing at the festival, he played two consecutive nights on Tuesday night in a Montreal club
"SLAV", directed by Robert Lepage and starring Betty Bonifbadi, sparked protests in Montreal last week, with his critics. arguing that he appropriates black culture. In production, the dominant whites dress like cotton pickers and poor workers and sing old slaves' songs.
"Their songs are taken away by whites and played in rooms filled with other whites for high prices" Sumney wrote in a letter to festival organizers that he also posted on his blog Tumblr. "I would have preferred to see real black Americans sing their own slave songs."
Thank you all for the support around the MTL show! I am very surprised. & no lost love for the festival; I hope this can be a learning experience for all of us. I get a LOT of press requests, but I do not do interviews right now because I did not do that to get media attention.
– Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) July 3, 2018
position, for those who missed my point, I decided to publish the letter that I wrote the festival before d & # 39; Cancel: https://t.co/dhqUpWTqSx
– Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) July 3, 2018
Bonifbadi told the Montreal Gazette last week that she did not feel bad about the production at all. "I do not see the color, for me it does not exist, physically or musically," she said
in her letter to the festival, Sumney criticized Bonifbadi's comments saying that " the solution to racism is not to erase the race ".] He also compared" SLAV "to blackface minstrel performances." The only thing missing is black painting, "he writes [19659002] Contacted by Associated Press, Greg Kitzler, director of media relations for the jazz festival, said: "We respect his decision and hope that Moses Sumney will perform at the festival.
Kitzler declined to comment on whether the festival would continue to support "SLAV," but added that a press release planned for Wednesday would offer some clarifications.
The play is expected to last until July 14 as a party. of the 39th edition of the festival. Thousands of artists have played at the festival over the years, including Stevie Wonder, Franklin Aretha, BB King and Diana Ross.
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