Art and oil - the abusive relationship continues.
So it was all to no avail. The protests, the performances, the publications: all now look pointless, as Tate, the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Opera House have announced that they will all renew their sponsorship deals with oil giant BP. The agreements – worth £10 million over the next five years – were announced today, despite years of anti-BP protest by artists and activists.
On hearing the news, Kevin Smith from Platform, the art campaign group spearheading the anti-BP movement, told the Guardian: "By aligning themselves with BP, the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House and Tate Britain are legitimising the devastation of indigenous communities in Canada through tar sands extraction, the expansion of dangerous oil drilling in the Arctic, and the reckless business practices that lead to the deaths of 11 oil workers on the Deepwater Horizon.”
It's worth pointing out that £10 million – spread over four institutions and five years – is not actually that much. ROH alone got £26.3 million from the Arts Council in the 2011/12 settlement, although they were hit by a 15% funding cut this year. Even so, for a couple of million, one wonders why these institutions are so keen to stay loyal to such unpopular associates.
The news also means that the confident predictions made by Smith and Charles Thomson of the Stuckists in Spoonfed's Art 2012 feature have failed to come true. But, with forthcoming actions like Tate a Tate scheduled, expect a continuation of anti-BP sentiment – publicly and passionately articulated.
Read Tax, Oil, Capitalism, Censorship - Tom's examination of Corporate Sponsorship and the Arts, August 2011.
Photo credit: Liberate Tate - Human Cost by Immo Klink
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