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Tassie Festival Adds Kirin J Callinan To Line-up: 'A Bold Warrior For Diversity'

Staff Writer

Organisers have issued a statement on the call.

Kirin J Callinan has been announced on the line-up for the upcoming Party In The Paddock festival just weeks after being dumped from the 2018 Laneway bill. 

The Sydney artist has joined the now-sold-out Tasmanian event this weekend alongside Thundamentals and Mallrat.

update: Kirin J Callinan Charged For Allegedly Exposing Himself At 2017 ARIAs

Festival organisers addressed Callinan's surprise inclusion on the line-up in a statement issued today.

"PITP believes that a progressive society of equality and tolerance is in part shaped by the provocative artists who dance on its fringes," the statement reads.

"We afford artists a license to challenge norms, express themselves freely and be agents of change. For that reason, PITP extends a special invitation for Kirin J Callinan to join us in The Paddock this year for his Tasmanian festival debut.

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"We judge Kirin not by a single, spontaneous moment of profanity but rather by a decade of provocative and brilliant work. Kirin J Callinan is rightfully recognised internationally as a master musician as well as a bold and brilliant warrior for originality and diversity and we welcome him to The Paddock this Saturday night.

"Kirin will be joining us for a full band set and he’ll also share MC duties with local Greens legend Andrea Dawkins."

Party In The Paddock founder and creative director, Jesse Higgs, added, "After delving into the recent controversy involving Kirin, we thought it was an integral gesture to put our support behind the artist".

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The decision to remove Callinan from the 2018 Laneway line-up was sparked after Miss Blanks, who is also an ambassador for the 1800 LANEWAY safe space program, approached organisers. 

Among the reasons behind Callinan's Laneway axing was his stunt at at the 2017 ARIA Awards where he exposed himself on the red carpet.

Blanks said of the decision last month, "It threatens many people of many intersections, there are many people that have a potential for risk when someone like Kirin is on the line-up. Ableism and blackface, exposing himself at the ARIAs was just the icing on the cake".