“There should be no role for an oil company in the artistic decisions of any cultural organization,” wrote the competition judge, artist Gary Hume, “and especially not in determining the winner of the world’s leading portrait award.”
BP
Posted inArt
In Response to the British Museum, an Exhibition Demonstrates the High Cost of Iraqi Oil
An exhibition at P21 gallery highlights the human consequences of the exploitation of Iraq’s oil reserves, among them, environmental crises, state corruption, and youth unemployment.
Posted inNews
A BP Oil Protest Spills Through the British Museum’s Protest Exhibition
BP or not BP? gathered in opposition of oil giant BP’s financial stake at the British Museum, accusing the company of bolstering its political positioning through its arts investments.
Posted inNews
Protest Performance Pressures Royal Shakespeare Company to End BP Sponsorship
Members of BP or not BP? and other collectives staged the “Fossil Free Mischief Festival” in front and in the lobby of the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon theater.
Posted inNews
New Dossier Shows British Museum Had a Role in Dealings Between BP and Russia
Newly public emails show correspondence between the museum, Russia’s London embassy, British officials, and BP.
Posted inNews
Winner of a BP Portrait Award Donates Share of Prize Money to Anti-BP Protests
The 26-year-old winner of this year’s BP Young Artist Award donated £1,000 to fund Greenpeace’s anti-BP efforts.
Posted inNews
BP Sponsorship Violates UK National Portrait Gallery’s Ethics Policy, Report Claims
Culture Unstained is calling on the museum to cut ties with BP because of its connections to foreign regimes that violate human rights.
Posted inNews
At British Museum Protest, Australian Aboriginal Activist Demands Repatriation of Ancestor’s Shield
On Sunday, with help from the theatrical protest group BP Or Not BP?, Rodney Kelly appealed to the public for the return of the Gweagal shield.
Posted inNews
In Wake of Trump’s Election, Protestors Address Climate Change at the British Museum
In a performance at the British Museum, the theatrical protest group BP or not BP? marked the final weekend of a BP-sponsored exhibition and responded to the election of Donald Trump.
Posted inNews
Anti-BP Protesters Release Pirates, Merpeople, and the Kraken at the British Museum
LONDON — The irony of oil company BP sponsoring the British Museum’s current exhibition Sunken Cities will have been lost on few.
Posted inNews
UK Museum Ethics Committee Rejects Allegations of Corruption in BP’s Sponsorships
In May, the Art Not Oil coalition penned a 40-page report that suggests how BP takes advantage of its relationship with its sponsored cultural institutions, requesting that the Museums Association examine whether these deals are at all unethical.
Posted inOpinion
Art Not Oil Coalition Issues Statement on BP’s Sponsorship of UK Cultural Institutions
We received the following statement from the Art Not Oil coalition regarding the new BP sponsorships of major cultural institutions in the UK.
