Kanye West in Reggio Emilia: the latest
But will Kanye West’s concert at the Rcf Arena in Reggio Emilia on July 18th take place or not? This is the question that the 68 thousand fans – Italian and not only – who purchased tickets for the rapper’s show in the former Campovolo area have been asking themselves for hours, after the wave of controversy that overwhelmed him due to the anti-Semitic statements he has indulged in in recent years ended up pushing the organizers of the Wireless Festival to cancel the event scheduled for 10 to 12 July in London, at which West was supposed to perform.
Already yesterday they had lined up against West theNational Association of Italian Partisans of Reggio Emilia (through its president Anna Ferrari: «We have already said in the past that West must not come to Reggio; I would like the organizers of the concert who have made a choice and will take responsibility for it to speak»), CISL Central Emilia (“Ye assures that he has changed, that he wants to play for peace and love and no longer for the swastika and anti-Semitism, but the question remains: does showbiz matter more than constitutional values?”) and Adelmo Cervison of Aldo, one of the seven brothers shot by the Nazi-Fascists in 1943 in Reggio Emilia (“Anyone who goes around with swastikas is not worthy of singing anywhere, not just in Reggio Emilia or London”).
Now he intervenes Victor Yari Milanifounder and artistic director of the Hellwatt Festival, the event that will host Kanye West’s show, making it known that the event is confirmed: «Hellwatt Festival is a space of free artistic expression, open to the great personalities of global music. We have put together an ambitious program that looks beyond national borders and aims to position the Italian festival alongside major global events. With music we want to unite people from all over the world and of all generations, not create divisions». And again: «Kanye West has confirmed his presence on July 18th at the Hellwatt Festival for his first big concert in our country and we are happy to host him for a show that promises to be unique. Certainly the artist’s comments in the past have provoked a legitimate reaction, but we also want to remember that Ye apologized in the Wall Street Journal in January formally stating that he is not a Nazi or an anti-Semite but that he suffers from bipolar disorder. I’ll add that we asked him to apologize in Italy too. The values of the festival must not be questioned: respect and inclusion.”
This last point, that of apologies, is also leveraged Municipality of Reggio Emiliawhich will ask the organizers of the Hellwatt festival to organize a meeting between Kanye West and local anti-fascist groups. Mayor Marco Massari announced it directly: «Reggio Emilia is not a neutral city. It is a community that has built its identity on anti-fascism, on the dignity of the person and on the rejection of all forms of hatred. And these values are not negotiable. Anyone who chooses to perform in this city must be aware of the context they enter. Our distancing from Kanye West’s behavior and statements was and remains clear.” However, the note continues, «the mayor is not the authority who decides who can or cannot perform in the city. As we already stated last December, a few days after the announcement of the concert, the statements and behaviors attributed to the artist are serious and unacceptable. Any reference, even just evoked, to symbols or ideologies attributable to Nazism and anti-Semitism is incompatible with the values of our Constitution and with the very identity of Reggio Emilia, a Gold Medal city for the Resistance.” The Municipality therefore leaves the decision to the organisers: «The event is organized by private entities and, in the absence of public order reasons, there is no discretionary power on the part of the municipal administration to prohibit it. Assessments relating to entry into the country or any bans are instead up to the Government, as also demonstrated by the case of the United Kingdom».
West’s participation in the Wireless Festival was in fact canceled because the London government chose to revoke the rapper’s visa to travel from the US to the UK. If the Italian government were to adopt a similar decision, it would be impossible for the rapper to perform in Reggio Emilia on July 18. At the moment, however, Palazzo Chigi is limited to monitoring the case, as reported by La Repubblica.
