In the upcoming EU Referendum, Wales Arts Review passionately stands in support of the Remain campaign. Recent events have moved us as an organisation to realise that simply providing a platform for debate on the subject is not enough, and we must stand firmly and openly in support of an outward-looking, internationalist Wales and a united Europe.
We came to the conclusion that it is not enough to simply allow the internationalist, anti-isolationist attitudes we have exuded and extoled in our editorial vision for the last four and half years to speak for itself, but rather that we should state clearly in black and white what it is Wales Arts Review stands for, and what we think is the only message that brings hope and ideas of progress at the ballot box on Thursday.
Wales Arts Review stands primarily on the shoulders of the great Enlightenment philosophies and values of the European tradition that stretch back centuries. We believe we have consistently served those values during our existence, and a vote for anything other than to remain in the EU would be antithetical to our very reason to exist, and is anathema to our understanding of what art is and what it can achieve.
But there is even more at stake here, as has been becoming apparent over the last few months, and was made abundantly, undeniably clear on Thursday. In what we here see as a battle for ideas, a battle for hope, for progress, and for Enlightenment values, there is also a battle against fear, hatred, violence and a mindset nurtured by the UK’s right wing media and their politicians that would see us catapulted back into the Dark Ages. Wales Arts Review now sees a vote for anything other than Remain as a vote for these Dark Age ideals. To vote Out is to vote against hope, against peace, against progress.
There is indeed so much more that unites us than divides us.
Over the next few days, in the lead up to polling day, Wales Arts Review will publish several articles that argue different cases in regards to the EU debate. But rather than contradict our stand as an organisation, these articles will in fact strengthen our belief that strong, mature disagreement is the cornerstone of the ideals of the European Enlightenment philosophies. It is these values that publications such as The Daily Mail, its red top minion, The Telegraph, and The Express have sought to expunge with their lies and fascistic headlines. We believe the EU Referendum to now be a question of hope over hatred. Of a united Europe with a vibrant Britain at its beating heart over a quivering, charred craven gremlin figure lurking in the shadows: the Britain of the dishonest, hateful and violent right.
Wales Arts Review is part of a European family. Wales is part of that European family. Britain is part of that European family. And there is so much more that unites us than divides us.
Gary Raymond
Editor, Wales Arts Review
On behalf of Wales Arts Review
