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Bust-up between Aliyev and BP reveals corporate profiteering as Azeri oil peaks
Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, gave a speech last week accusing oil company BP of “false promises” and “gross mistakes”. In a country where regime and corporation are closely intertwined – and almost symbiotic – what is going on behind the political theatre? Why the public outburst? Aliyev revealed that Azerbaijan had lost $8 billion in…
15 Oct 2012 admin -
National Gallery ends arms money – what it means for oil & the arts
There was some wonderful news today as the National Gallery announced the end of its long-standing sponsorship arrangement with controversial weapons manufacturer Finmeccanica a year before the contract was due to run its course. Organisations like CAAT and Stop the Arms Fair have conducted an amazing campaign, using public pressure and creative interventions to make…
10 Oct 2012 admin -
This is about oil sponsorship, not corporate sponsorship, of the arts
At the end of September, the merry band of Bard-based interventionists, the Reclaim Shakespeare Company struck again in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Shortly before the BP-sponsored performance of Twelfth Night was due to begin, three actors took to the stage to perform a short piece addressing the issue of the controversial sponsorship relationship, including lines such as: Alas,…
9 Oct 2012 admin -
Kate Tempest, Matthew Herbert & BP Saturdays at Tate
On Saturday, September 22nd, an exciting collaborative installation took place at Tate Britain, involving the innovative pioneers of immersive performance, Punchdrunk. However at least two of the artists who were taking part in the didn’t seem to be aware and comfortable with the fact that the event had the top line BP sponsorship attached to…
8 Oct 2012 admin -
BP’s Caucasus gas pipeline blows up, as conflict escalates along route
A blast on the Turkish section of BP’s South Caucasus Gas Pipeline has shut down fuel exports, putting a stop to gas exports from Azerbaijan to Turkey. The explosion took place in a forest between the villages of Yagbasan and Catag, in remote north-eastern Turkey, near the borders with Georgia & Armenia. The Turkish Ministry…
7 Oct 2012 admin -
Thirty national & international groups call for support of tar sands blockade
We’re honoured to be one of the groups to be standing in solidarity with this inspiring direct action taking place in Texas attempting to block construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The activists have been facing a variety of awful police responses, including pepper spray, choke holds and tasers. For more information on the…
6 Oct 2012 admin -
Bowing to a dead dictator: pipelines, personality cults and the US Ambassador
Azeri democracy activists were enraged when in September, the new US Ambassador to Baku bowed down in front of the memorial to the late dictator Heydar Aliyev, father of the current dictator Ilham Aliyev. The State Department initially tried to claim that Richard Morningstar had only laid a wreath of flowers at the memorial to…
5 Oct 2012 admin -
Shell Classic International: A musical mask and a social licence
A guest post from musician Chris Garrard. Tonight, the new season of the Shell Classic International concert series will open at the Southbank. The first piece of this first concert is Benajmin Britten’s ‘plea for peace’, the Sinfonia da Requiem. The unpleasant irony is that Shell, the sponsor of these concerts, have now spent in…
3 Oct 2012 admin -
Revealed: Vince Cable, ‘Minister for Shell’
Documents obtained by Corporate Watch show that Vince Cable has been acting as “Contact Minister for Shell”. In a letter to Vince Cable, dated 19 March 2012, Malcolm Brinded, (who, at the time of writing, was Chief Executive of Shell Upstream International) thanks Vince Cable for attending a Shell strategy presentation; adding that he hopes…
