Jyoty and Manuka Honey withdraw from Berlin’s CTM festival

Jyoty and Manuka Honey have cancelled their appearances at this year’s CTM festival in Berlin, as part of the ongoing cultural strike, Strike Germany.

Announced via a statement on Ravers For Palestine‘s Instagram page, the two artists join 850+ artists and cultural workers to boycott German state-funded cultural institutions in response to the “intensifying crackdown” on those expressing solidarity with “Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza.”

“Leading international DJs Manuka Honey and Jyoty have announced their withdrawal from the 2024 CTM festival in Berlin,” the statement reads, adding that “more artists are expected to follow suit.”

Both artists had been scheduled to make appearances at the Berlin-based festival at the end of this month, with high profile slots at Berghain on January 26.

The festival is set to hold a series of events at the Kreuzberg nightclub across its eight-day run, as well as silent green, OXI, RSO.Berlin and more.

CTM announced its line-up last year, alongside news of the Berlin Senate for Culture’s commitment to provide funding for the event for four years.

Ravers For Palestine continued their statement by calling on all “DJs and international artists scheduled to play at CTM” to withdraw their participation in the festival in solidarity with German cultural sector workers.

The Berlin senate recently passed a requirement to agree to the “controversial” IHRA definition of anti-semitism in order to be granted arts funding. The move has been criticised by both German and international campaigners, claiming that it hinders “artistic freedom”; over 4,000 artists have signed a petition against the requirement

New York’s dweller festival also shared that it will not be holding an event in Berlin this year as part of Strike Germany, writing on Twitter: “We will not be hosting an edition of Dweller in Berlin this year.”

“We made this decision a while ago due to the way German institutions were treating those opposing the current genocide in Palestine, it’s now reached an absurd level of control.”

Last year Ravers For Palestine issued an open letter, signed by 300 DJs, producers and collectives to “urgently speak out against Israel’s brutal and ongoing attack on Gaza.” You can read it here.

Mixmag has contacted representatives of CTM festival for comment.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag’s Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter