Hatari made waves with their protest (Picture: BBC)

It was the Eurovision Song Contest stunt that made headline news.

Anti-capitalist BDSM-inspired techno-music performance art collective Hatari had impressed the millions of voters across Europe and Australia as they represented Iceland in Tel Aviv, Israel with their track Hatrið mun sigra (Hate Will Prevail), performing in front of cages and flames in full leather and fetish wear.

When it came to voting, the unconventional song came 10th on the leaderboard – an impressive feat for the band. However, it was what happened next that landed them a place in Eurovision legend.

As the cameras turned to them in the green room, Hatari calmly held up Palestinian flags and banners to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.




And while the stunt shocked the hosts, audience members and viewers alike, it turns out that the protest was always part of the plan.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Hatari singer Matthías Tryggvi Haraldson explained: ‘It was always our main reason for entering – to make awareness of the occupation of Palestinian territories and the pinkwashing that was taking place. But in what form that process would take, was unknown until that point. We had the tools to raise awareness at our disposal. But the form that would take, we didn’t have the details.’

The European Broadcasting Union hinted at punishment for Hatari and Iceland for breaking the contest’s no-politics rule, but it was decided that the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV would be fined only €5,000 (£4,200).

And while Hatari had always planned to protest against Israel’s hosting of Eurovision, Hatari don’t have beef with the contest itself.

Matthías added: ‘As an entity in general, it has the potential to be a celebration of peace and diversity and a fun one at that. But we did what we felt was right in the context of this year’s contest.’

Following Eurovision, the band collaborated with the Palestinian artist Bashar Murad, and he will be joining Hatari on stage next week at Iceland Airwaves, bringing the journey full circle.

Hatari are constantly changing

On the same day as their festival gig, the group – made up of Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Haraldsson and Einar Stefánsson, with more members in the collective – will release their new single Klámstrákur or Filthy Boy. It’s pure Hatari – even though the band is now known to millions more thanks to their participation in Eurovision, they haven’t changed to accommodate their new fanbase.

Matthías said: ‘People understand it each in their own way. We can’t prescribe a correct understanding of what we’re doing. People do seem to pick up on many of the elements’, with Klemens adding: ‘Since our participation in Eurovision, we haven’t had to explain ourselves as much, although it has been an interesting challenge for a few.’

His cousin quipped: ‘Just doing a sincere kind of interview like this was totally new to us when we started the Eurovision process. Our interactions with the media has always been a performance in of themselves. The need for the audience wanting to get an explanation, it’s a new challenge to create this performance that we do, in dialogue with media outlets.’



While Eurovision didn’t change Hatari, the guys acknowledge that their collective is ever-changing in its nature. Formed in 2015 by cousins Matthías and Klemens, the group has been honing its message and craft through various mediums and is a constant experiment in pushing the envelope.

‘Regardless of Eurovision, we are in constant development and we strive to move forward and consistently continue developing and broadening our art,’ explained Matthías. ‘We’re constantly changing. It would be a shame if we continued the same way for the next 20 years.

‘But there’s still a core there that remains constant, and we keep many of the elements that have been with Hatari since the beginning. People seem to celebrate and pick up on our anti-capitalist message and want to crush the current social and economic status with us.’

Hatari may have come to worldwide fame thanks to their band, but they’re not actually a band first and foremost – more of an art collective, although Klemens and Matthías concede that their music is becoming a bigger and bigger part of that.

Matthías said: ‘We of course are dealing primarily with the music platform, music industry, music venues, musical performances – so in that way, we are a band. But we try to incorprorate different elements from different mediums to form a collective. It gives the audience a broader understanding of what we’re doing. The way we frame things has a lot to do with how they are understood.


‘We also try to use other mediums in our performances. We enjoy some mediums more than the music. It’s a coincidence that it ended up being the main medium of this multimedia project.’

Klemens said: ‘Collaboration with different medias, I find is the most interesting way of expressing a certain message or idea – not necessarily picking one but infusing many together to create a much more elaborate expression.’

Klemens’ expression is put forward in the video for Filthy Boy, which he directed with frequent collaborator Baldvin Vernharðsson – and while the band’s projects are getting slicker and more ambitious, the video and the track confirm that the pre-Eurovision, boundary-pushing heart of Hatari remains.

Hatari play Iceland Airwaves on Friday 8 November at the Reykjavik Art Museum. For tickets and travel packages visit the Iceland Airwaves website.

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