More reviews and analysis of The Oil Road, and paperback release news
May 10, 2013
The Oil Road continues to get great feedback from the press, blogs and at events all over the country, and we’re delighted to announce that it will be coming out in paperback in Autumn 2013. Last month, Radio 4’s Thinking Allowed did a special programme on ‘The Power of Oil’, featuring James Marriott of Platform, Prof....
Can’t buy me love? Walking the ethical fundraising tightrope
May 9, 2013
“The worst kind of business environment, mixed with moral manipulation,” was how a friend of mine described fundraising in a large charity. I sympathise with those fundraisers, because I’ve worked in fundraising teams with heavy bottom lines and sky-high targets. Producing high returns on investment is the constant pressure on fundraisers so it’s not surprising...
Gulf Coast organisations respond to Liberate Tate’s ‘BP Trial’ performance
Apr 29, 2013
Last week saw art-interventionists Liberate Tate carry out a week long performance in Tate Modern, with three different performers whispering excerpts from the BP trial transcripts for an hour every day. Using specially constructed frames to hold a mobile phone, the performers filmed themselves and live-streamed their delivery so that people from all over the...
Liberate Tate perform BP trial all week in Tate Modern – #AllRise
Apr 23, 2013
Visitors to London’s iconic Tate Modern gallery this week might be a bit bemused to glimpse figures with strange filming devices strapped on to their bodies and wandering about muttering to themselves. It’s the latest performance from art-interventionists Liberate Tate, who are performing the BP trial over the course of the week in Tate Modern,...
Supreme Court Ruling Blocks Human Rights Case Against Shell In The Niger Delta
Apr 22, 2013
Last week, a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company blocked relatives of murdered activists from the Niger Delta from bringing a case against Shell in the US using the Alien Tort Statute. Not only does this ruling prevent the families from seeking justice but it may also shield...
“Gaz de schiste – c’est fasciste!” – Don’t Frack Algeria
Apr 17, 2013
On Monday Algerian activists in London protested against fracking plans, as Minister of Energy and Mines Youcef Yousfi was presenting to the Algeria British Business Council. The chants of “Gaz de schiste! C’est fasciste!” and “No Fracking Way!” could be heard clearly inside the hall, provoking giggling. As the Minister paused, the refrain of “Youcef...
Excerpts from Take The Money and Run? New guide on arts, ethics and sponsorship
Apr 16, 2013
This week, together with Live Art Development Agency, we are launching a beautiful print and e-version of the Agency’s Study Room Guide ‘Take the money and run? Some positions on ethics, business sponsorship and making art’. The Guide was commissioned by the Agency from Platform, and I took up the interesting task of choosing and...
Tullow Oil’s Sunderland AFC sponsorship ends amid controversy
Apr 11, 2013
Last year we raised some concerns about a new sponsorship deal between Tullow Oil and Sunderland football club, aka Sunderland AFC. Only it wasn’t actually Tullow that was doing the sponsoring, it was a strange body called Invest In Africa, that was all about promoting Africa (homogenous and undifferentiated continent that it is) as a...
Quizoola! What I hope Forced Entertainment will ask at Barbican
Apr 11, 2013
Renowned and celebrated theatre and performance group Forced Entertainment are doing a marathon of their latest show Quizoola! at the Barbican this weekend. There’s potential free entry for early birds in the quiet hours of 6am to midday, in the 24 hour non stop performance that goes from midnight on Friday till the clock strikes 12 again...
Shell and Gazprom sign more documents on Arctic tie-up
Apr 9, 2013
Gazprom and Shell signed a new agreement today, under the eyes of Vladimir Putin on his trade mission to Europe. The agreement has been in discussion for a few years; at one point a BP-and-Rosneft style share swap was discussed, but the two companies appear to have settled for a Joint Venture. Together they’ll extract...
Hassan Jumaa Awad: Working class hero facing jail for oil union organizing
Apr 6, 2013
Hassan Jumaa, leader of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions is facing a potential jail sentence when he faces a Basra court on Sunday 14th of April for ‘Overstepping the Duties of a Public Official’. His ‘crime’ is organising protests and building union strength in opposition to oil privatisation and also for standing up to...
Final call for proposals: artist-led funded projects with Platform & LADA
Apr 5, 2013
This Monday is the deadline for DIY 10 proposals. Get yours in now! DIY is an opportunity for artists working in Live Art to conceive and run unusual training and professional development projects for other artists. Platform’s call is for “Live Art, performance as protest and the online element.” Platform invites proposals that look at performance...
