Art Not Oil - previous site "archive" - to 06th Oct 2013

All photos by Peter Marshall: http://mylondondiary.co.uk

This from the UK Tar Sands Network:

'Dearest brethren,Monday saw extraordinary scenes as we joined Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthalujah to exorcise the beast that is BP from the Tate Modern Turbine Hall. Filling the huge space inside the former power station with singing, clapping and chanting, crowds of people joined the Rev in a piece of protest performance art that was at times sombre, at times raucous, at times oily – and ultimately incredibly powerful. Watch the film (above) to find out what the hell we’re talking about.'

www.no-tar-sands.org

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This from Rev central:

'At the Tate Modern in London, British Petroleum seeks to capture our imagination by hitching its BP sunflower logo to the Miro exhibit. The artistic experience is then reduced to a dangerously passive consumerism. Only the Earth itself, a kind of freak storm inside, can free us from such a damaging lie.

We tried to let all the victimized life of BP come through us on Monday. We prayed, screamed, circle-danced, rubbed out the logo as the police mused.... Amen! May the fossil fuel companies find our interruptions are weekly, daily, hourly -- as constant as fabulous bad weather!'

www.revbilly.com

(NB. It's true that BP doesn't directly sponsor the Miro exhibition, but it supports the Tate brand, so therein lies the connection...)

And in more caffeinous detail:

http://www.revbilly.com/chatter/blog/2011/26/the-exorcism-of-tate-modern-caffeinated-at-40000-ft

Some media...

Evening Standard:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jul/19/arts-diary-bp-tate-malick

See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/jul/19/reverend-billy-tate-modern-bp

Reverend Billy and The Church of Earthalujah invite you to a service at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall on Monday 18 July, 5.30.

An exorcism of the evil spirit of BP, brought to you by Liberate Tate, UK Tar Sands Network, Rising Tide, Art Not Oil and Climate Rush...

Brothers and sisters, a dark beast lurks within the bosom of one of our most cherished arts institutions. While good-hearted, god-fearing, gallery goers glory in the miracle of art, the beast below is encircling the planet with its oily tentacles, destroying righteous communities, poisoning God’s beauteous creations, and bringing us all ever closer to the climate apocalypse.

And the name of that beast is BP. For 20 long years, BP has embedded its foulness deep within the Tate, using the fair face of the arts to mask the stench of its true nature.

On Monday 18 July, join Reverend Billy and & The Church of Earthalujah, as we lay hands on the Tate Modern, and cast out the evil demon of BP’s oil sponsorship.

The Reverend Billy & The Church of Earthalujah will also be performing in London on the Sunday evening at Conway Hall

Info here: http://revbilly.com/events/earthalujah-tour/london

*Reverend Billy and The Church of Earthalujah *

THE CHURCH OF EARTHALUJAH featuring Reverend Billy and the 35-voice Stop Shopping Gospel Choir is part theater piece, part church service, part performance art and wholly inspirational. Family friendly but big bank deadly, The Church of Earthalujah condemns the corporate exploiters and polluters of the world to the Lake of Hellfire - especially the ones that spew CO2 through mountaintop removal, hydro-fracking, super malls and shipping sweatshop products long distances with with fossil fuel-burning engines. We believe that the fires and droughts and quakes and typhoons are not natural disasters, but shout-outs from this big living thing we’re a part of. The message is loud and clear when we learn to put our ears to the dirt:

www.revbilly.com

Rev. Billy Tate Modern London 18th July 2011

Reverend Billy leads mass exorcism in Tate Modern Turbine Hall over 'taint' of BP sponsorship

Three ballet dancers interrupted BP’s third and final Summer Screen in Trafalgar Square[1], 30 minutes before the scheduled broadcast of the opera Cinderella began. The disturbance took the form of a short piece of dance based on Swan Lake [2], with the classic tale used as analogy for BP’s controversial investment in the Canadian tar sands [3],[4]. The performance featured the White Swan being smeared by an oily substance and suffocated with a cloth. The crowd of opera-lovers were very receptive, greeting the grand finale with applause and cheers. 

Charlie Byers, who played the prince, explained: “The tar sands are one of the biggest threats to the future of our climate [5]; they are also destroying local communities and wildlife, trampling indigenous rights, and running Canada out of water and natural gas. It is a key time to pressure BP to withdraw, as the corporation has already substantially invested in the tar sands but will not start profiting for years to come.”

Emily Coats, a campaigner with the UK Tar Sands Network, who played the White Swan Odette, said: “Most people have never heard of tar sands, and BP would be happy to keep it that way. We used classical dance – an unusual campaigning medium – to introduce the issue to a new audience. The performance was meant to be enjoyed, but also to shock, with a visible struggle between a vulnerable creature and a powerful oil giant.” 

Will McCallum, of campaign group Art of Activism, who played the ‘BP’ villain Rothbart, said: “By sponsoring the Summer Screens, BP is bringing art to thousands of people, but it is also creating a false image which hides its dirty investments. Public pressure has in the past caused institutions to stop accepting sponsorship from destructive companies. Without being able to put its name by our beloved cultural institutions, BP would suffer a real blow to its public legitimacy.”

[1] BP sponsors the Royal Opera House’s “Summer Screens” where ballets and operas are broadcast live in public spaces around the UK, including Trafalgar Square, for audiences to watch for free. The scheduled performance on 13th July was the opera Cendrillon (Cinderella).

[2] For a full synopsis of the piece, see bpwhiteswan.org (video below)

[3] BP announced in December 2010 its investment in the Sunrise Project, shared with Canadian company Husky Energy. Extraction is due to begin in 2014. http://www.no-tar-sands.org/campaigns/british-petroleum-bp/

[4] Canadian tar sands are the world’s largest and dirtiest industrial project: exacerbating global warming through deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, causing rare forms of cancer amongst First Nations communities, destroying vast tracts of forest habitat and threatening wildlife to extinction. For more information see no-tar-sands.org and oilsandstruth.org

[5] NASA Scientist James Hansen has said that irreversible climate change is inevitable if all the oil in Canada’s tar sands is burned. See   http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/feb/17/barack-o…

No Tar Sands

http://www.no-tar-sands.org/2011/07/‘guerilla-ballet’-disrupts-bp-sponsored-opera-event-in-trafalgar-square/

See also: Hunt's Glass Slipper is Filling With Toxic Toes:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mark-donne/hunts-glass-slipper-is-fi_b_…

BP White Swan film

BP White Swan from You and I Films on Vimeo.

From the Evening Standard of the following day: