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

For immediate release: Thursday 21st April 2011

For more information contact Simon Bradley, 07984 541 490 

STUDENTS PROTEST BP'S SPONSORSHIP OF MANCHESTER MUSEUM 

​Activists from the University of Manchester erect an alternative BP logo to mark the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill 

Manchester (20th April 2011) - To mark the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, students from the University ofManchester have protested against BP's sponsorship of the ManchesterMuseum by erecting an alternative BP logo inside the museum. BP iscurrently sponsoring the museum's China: Journey to the Eastexhibition. Students from environmental campaign group People & Planetentered the museum and erected artwork depicting the BP logo drippingin oil. The protesters proceeded to hand out leaflets containinginformation explaining the harm BP that does to the environment, andwhy they feel that it is inappropriate for the Manchester Museum toaccept sponsorship money from BP. 

BP sponsors the Museum's current nine-month exhibition, China: Journeyto the East, which brings together objects from over 3,000 years ofChinese history. The exhibition opened last September and runs until June [1]. 

Wednesday 20th April is the one-year anniversary of the DeepwaterHorizon disaster, which caused the largest off-shore oil spill inAmerican history [2]. On 20th April 2010 a large explosion rippedthrough the BP-run Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The resultant spill sawmore than two million gallons of oil leak in to the Gulf of Mexico [3]. 

The People & Planet group at the University of Manchester is anautonomous part of the nationwide People & Planet network, whichbrings students together to campaign on issues of human rights and the environment. 

Said Annette Guilding, of People & Planet: “Although we have chosentoday, the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, for ouraction, that incident is just one small example from BP's litany ofcrimes against the environment. While we understand that theManchester Museum needs to find funding somehow, by accepting BP's oilmoney they are legitimising the company's other, harmful activities.By sponsoring cultural institutions and the arts, BP are trying tomake it seem like we need them – but we do not. As the Museum is partof our University, we feel it is up to us – the students – to take a stand against BP.” 

Philosophy student Simon Bradley said “BP have tried to rebrand themselves as a green company. However, they continue to invest in theworld’s most environmentally damaging projects. They are a hugecontributor to climate change. By subverting BP’s logo we aim tohighlight the fact that this is simply greenwash and that oil stilllies at the heart of BP’s business. We need to move beyond oil.” 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Simon Bradley of University of Manchester People and Planeton 07984 541 490
or simonmarkbradley@gmail.com 

Photographs provided upon request. 

REFERENCES 

[1] http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/chinajourneytotheeast/

[2] http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-27-oil-spill-news_N.htm?csp=34news

[3]http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/08/new-estimate-puts-oil-leak-at-49-million-barrels.html  

This letter was pulled together by PLATFORM/Licence to Spill...

The Guardian, Wednesday 20 April 2011: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/20/tate-end-relationship-with-bp?INTCMP=SRCH

In the year since its catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has massively ramped up its investment in controversial tar sands extraction in Canada, has been shown to have been a key backer of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, and has attempted to commence drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. While BP continues to jeopardise ecosystems communities and the climate by the reckless pursuit of "frontier" oil, cultural institutions like Tate damage their reputation by continuing to be associated with such a destructive corporation.

The massive cuts to public arts funding in the UK have left hundreds of culturally important arts organisations in a position of great financial vulnerability, which means that the debate about the appropriateness of particular potential corporate sponsors like BP and Shell is more relevant than ever. As people working in the arts, we believe that corporate sponsorship does not exist in an ethical vacuum. In light of the negative social and ecological impacts of BP around the world, we urge Tate to demonstrate its commitment to a sustainable future by ending its sponsorship relationship with BP. 

 

Naomi Klein writer

John Keane artist

Lucy R Lippard writer

Matthew Herbert sound artist/composer

Charles Thomson artist and co-founder, The Stuckists

Billy Childish artist

Leila Galloway artist, senior lecturer, DMU

Professor Brian Holmes cultural critic

Beverly Naidus artist, educator activist

Lorena Rivero de Beer performance artist, Free University of Liverpool

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith artist, cultural art worker

Lisa Wesley artist

Dr Wallace Heim academic writer

Fabio Sassi artist

Milena Placentile curator

Beka Economopoulos, Jason Jones and Ange Tran Not An Alternative arts collective

Emma Byron artist

Gary Anderson artist and educator, Free University of Liverpool

Lena Simic artist, Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home

Lucy Neal producer, artist, educator

Rebecca Solnit writer activist

CJ Mitchell deputy director, Live Art Development Agency

the vacuum cleaner artist

Michelle Waters artist

Kooj Chuhan artist, creative produce

Salette Gressett International Arts Manager

Matthias von Hartz director, Hamburg International Festival

Dr. Loraine Leeson artist, Fulbright Scholar in Residence University of Washington Tacoma US

Amy Balkin artist and lecturer, California College of the Arts San Francisco, US

Mark McGowan artist, associate lecturer, Chelsea College of ArtJohn Jordan Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination

Cameron Davis artist, professor, University of Vermont

John Volynchook photographer

Roxane Permar artist

Noel Douglas artist, designer

Fran Crowe artist

Ritu Sood painter, writer

Monika Vykoukal curator 40

Cecilia Wee curator, writer

Hayley Newman artist

Jane Trowell artist, educator, Platform

Stephen Duncombe professor, New York University

Jonathan Baxter artist, arts organiser

Alejandro Meitin Ala Plastica

Carrie Reichardt co-founder, Treatment Rooms

Mike Russell photographer

Sean Scullion author and owner, Paganarchy Press

Aidan Jolly musician, digital artist, community artist

Jeffrey Blackler photographer

Brett Bloom artist

Mark Vallen painter, printmaker, writer

Carolyn M Stubbs fine artist, writer

Gloria Dawson writer

Ryan Van Winkle writer

Caroline Halliday artist

Doug Minkler artist

Tim Jeeves artist

Margareta Kern artist

Pamela Gilmore performer

Dr. Julia Lee Barclay writer, director

Ellie Harrison artist

Greg Patch artist

Calum F. Kerr artist

John Ledger artist

Phil Maxwell artist

Hazuan Hashim artist

Camilla Cancantata musician

Britt Jurgensen independent performance maker

Tom Besley assistant manager, Resonance FM

Christa Drennan consultant, mental health and the arts

Raoul Martinez artist

Carys Bryan artist

Jody Joanna Boehnert designer

Bridget McKenzie cultural consultant

Edgeworth Johnstone artist

Victoria Lucas artist

Mary Paterson artist

Nick Viney artist40

Peter Harrison artist

Alana Jelinek artist

Karen Grant artist

Mikk Murray artist

Robby Herbst artist, teacher, Llano Del Rio Collective

Maria Bartolo fine art lecturer

Peter Cusack sound artist, field recordist

Marcia Farquhar sculptor and story-teller

Jordan Baseman artist

Jem Finer artist

Marsha Bradfield artist

John Cussans artist

Tim O'Riley artist

Josephine Berry Slater editor, Mute magazine

Jennet Thomas artist, senior lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art

Cat Phillipps artist

Anna Best artist

Paul Noble artist

Andy Best media artist

John Hartley artist, co-director, Difference Exchange

Jonathan Allen artist

Alex Brew artist, curator, writer

Ben Eastop arts consultant

Gareth Evans writer, curator

Angela Kingston curator

Jo Joelson artist, co-director, London Fieldworks

Phil England co-founder, Resonance FM

Max Pugh film-maker

Neil Callaghan artist

Jamie Perera sound artist

Alaina Simone independent curator, artist agent and creative consultant

Marianne Soisalo artist, eko noiz

Felix Gonzales film-maker

Hemant Anant Jain writer, illustrator

Kerry Burton artist

Peter Offord artist

Sai Murai (Simon Murray) poet, artist, Liquorice Fish

Immo Klink artist, photographer

Amber Hickey artist

Kate Rich artist 40

Sue Palmer artist

Siobhan Mckeown video editor

Maya Ramsay artist

Lisa Nowlain artist

Stuart Bracewell artist

Jon Sack artist, writer

Professor Stephen Bottoms University of Leeds

Helen Sloane curator

Ed McKeon contemporary music specialist, curator, lecturer and broadcaster

Ian Mack painter

Heather McRobie novelist, journalist

Amy Scaife photographer

Dr Isabelle Fremeaux Birkbeck College

Guppi Bola art activist

Silvia Sellitto artist

Dr Anja Kanngieser radio-maker, Birkbeck College

Muriel Louveau performer, composer

Ruppe Koselleck artist

Ryan Frank designer

Simon Scardanelli composer

Yolanda de los Bueis artist

Space Hijackers artists, performers

Darren Sutton art-interventionist, Liberate Tate

Isabeau Doucet painter

Federico Zukerfeld artist, member of the International Errorist movement

Mark Godber producer

Sam Trotman producer

Dr Hilary Ramsden artivist, researcher

Gill Lloyd and Judith Knight directors, arts admin

Tom Pengelly artist

Rick Burgess artist

Lawrence Sullivan artist, researcher Chelsea College of Art and Design

Shelley Sacks social sculpture practitioner

Isa Suarez composer, sound artist

Justin Randolph Thompson artist

Dathini Mzayiya artist

Liliana Dmitrovic artist

Rob Van Beek artist

PG Lyons artist, editor40

Kristian Buus photographer

Jaime Gili visual artist

Marc James Léger cultural worker

Hugh Lewis film-maker, artist

Andrew Boyd author, producer

Katherine Ball artist

Luke Munn artist, curator

Clare Patey artist, curator

Kenny Young Artists Project Earth

(Photo by Amy Scaife: http://www.amyscaife.co.uk)

20.4.11: Art activists stage performance against gallery links with BP

Art & Business: An Unhappy Marriage?

Full article on the Channel 4 News site

liberatetate@gmail.com

07974 994188

Wednesday (20 April) artists from art activist group Liberate Tate are staging a performance in the Tate Britain on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days.

A naked member of the group has had an oil-like substance poured over him by silent figures dressed in black and wearing veils, and is now lying in a foetal position on the floor in the middle of the exhibition Single Form. Dedicated to the human body, Single Form is one of a series of ‘BP British Art Displays’ staged throughout the galleries of Tate Britain.

Sandra Paige, a participant in the performance, said: “It’s astonishing that Nick Serota and other Tate executives can be so blind to the horrific social and environmental impacts that BP is responsible for around the world. From the destruction of fisherfolks’ livelihoods in the Gulf of Mexico, to the indigenous communities in Canada fearing for their very survival – the human cost of BP’s oil extraction is staggering.”

The intervention comes as pressure grows for the art institution to sever its links with the increasing controversial oil company. Earlier in the week, a public demonstration took place in the Tate Modern over its links with BP and in the Guardian today, 166 people who work in the arts including Naomi Klein, John Keane and Matthew Herbert published a letter urging the Tate “to demonstrate its commitment to a sustainable future by ending its sponsorship relationship with BP”.

Terry Taylor, one of the members of Liberate Tate said: “Many important cultural institutions have been the victim of the government’s cuts in arts funding recently. The fact that many organisations will be actively looking for new funding means that the debate around the ethics of corporate sponsorship is more important than ever. Oil companies like BP are responsible for environmental and social controversy all over the world, and we can’t let their sponsorship of institutions like Tate detract from that fact.”

In the last year BP has increased investment in dangerous tar sands extraction in Canada, it has been shown to be a key backer of Mubarak’s repressive regime in Egypt and to have broken international rules governing its human rights responsibilities, and it has attempted to commence drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. Whilst BP destroys ecosystems, communities and the climate, it has also sought to silence the voices of its critics.

Despite numerous freedom of information requests, Tate refuses to disclose details of its arrangement with BP.

Terry Taylor of Liberate Tate said: “By refusing to disclose the extent of BP sponsorship, Tate is preventing the necessary public debate from taking place. It’s time it came clean about just how much dirty oil money is propping up public arts institutions.”

*** ENDS ***

(Photo by Amy Scaife: http://www.amyscaife.co.uk)

Notes to editors:

For more information, interviews and photo and video footage, contact: liberatetate@gmail.com or call 0797 4994188 liberatetate.org twitter.com/liberatetate

Photos will be made available through www.rexfeatures.com

The letter signed in the Guardian today by 166 artists can be seen at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/20/tate-end-relationship-with-bp

Liberate Tate is a network dedicated to taking creative disobedience against the Tate until it drops its oil company funding. The 20 April art activist performance follows earlier self-curated performances at Tate such as:

• ‘Dead in the water’: a contribution to Tate Modern’s 10th Birthday celebrations (May 2010) by hanging dead fish and birds from dozens of giant black helium balloons in the Turbine Hall

• ‘License to spill’: an oil spill at the Tate Summer Party celebrating 20 years of BP support (June 2010) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPpWPbEPspY&feature=related

• ‘Crude/Sunflower’: an installation art work which saw over 30 members of the collective draw a giant sunflower in the Turbine Hall with black oil paint bursting from BP-branded tubes of paint (September 2010) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW1HOndS2xk

The network was founded during a workshop in January 2010 on art and activism, commissioned by Tate. When Tate curators tried to censor the workshop from making interventions against Tate sponsors, although none had been planned, participants decided to continue their work together beyond the workshop and set up Liberate Tate.

Liberate Tate believes Tate is propping up the image of BP whilst it is engaged in socially and ecologically destructive activities incompatible with Tate’s ethical guidelines and the gallery’s vision of with regard to sustainability and climate change. The BP relationship not only damages Tate’s reputation, its mission is undermined as a growing number of visitors to the Tate cannot enjoy great art without the art museum making them complicit in the human cost of creating climate chaos.

In 2010 Liberate Tate issued an open invitation for artists, art lovers and other concerned members of the public to act to ensure that Tate ends its oil sponsorship ahead of Tate Modern’s expansion into its cleaned out underground oil tanks.

(Photo by Amy Scaife: http://www.amyscaife.co.uk)

---

Check out Marketing Week on damage to BP's brand:

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/3025900.article?cmpid=MWE01&cmptype=newsletter&email=true