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Egyptian political prisoners remembered in unsanctioned performance at British Museum’s ‘Sunken Cities’
24 November 2016 Unsanctioned vigil held for jailed human rights campaigners at ‘Curator’s Introduction to the BP Sponsored Exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds’ Exhibition displays objects from ancient sunken cities in the Nile Delta, where BP is now drilling for fossil fuels. Community opposition successfully halted BP’s gas plant plans – the North…
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For Lucy Fairley, founder of Helix Arts and Crossings
My friend and Platform ally Lucy Fairley has died, aged 70. We’ve known her and her work for nearly 25 years and worked especially closely with her in the late 1990s. She founded Artists Agency in Sunderland in 1983, and in 1987 appointed Esther Salamon to join her initially as Placement Officer, then as in…
30 Sep 2016 jane -
Strip away the carapace – the Ice Age, BP, and the British Museum
It pushes me quickly to tears. I’m kneeling on the cold stone floor of the Great Court, legs tucked beneath me, one foot crossed under the other. I’m listening to a rendition of A Requiem to Sinking Cities – an agit-performance in the heart of the British Museum. Silent figures hold up two banners, ‘#DropBP’…
15 Sep 2016 james -
Open letter: BP can’t buy our silence
Today’s Times has published an open letter from Mark Rylance, Naomi Klein, Nnimmo Bassey, Matthew Herbert, and 215 artists, actors, arts managers, musicians, frontline activists, campaigners, and scientists, arguing: We cannot afford another five years of BP-branded culture. Last Thursday BP announced the renewal of its flagship sponsorship programme. Its partners, this time: British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal…
2 Aug 2016 anna -
Tate loses in court over BP secrets as oil co. renews other cultural sponsorships
Press release: Tate loses in court over BP secrets as oil co. renews other cultural sponsorships Information Tribunal rules Tate must reveal BP sponsorship fees for 2007-2011 in a legal victory for campaigners. Artists and campaigners promise fresh wave of discontent as British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Opera House, and Royal Shakespeare Company sign…
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Statement: protest will escalate with BP’s newly announced sponsorship deals
Contact: Anna Galkina / 07942044472 / [email protected] Today BP announced new headline sponsorship agreements with the British Museum, Royal Opera House, National Portrait Gallery and Royal Shakespeare Company, providing the institutions with an average of only £375,000 a year each. This is less than the price of the average 2 bedroom flat in London, and 25% less…
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Information Commissioner in U-turn over Tate’s BP secrecy
Press release: Information Commissioner in U-turn over Tate’s BP secrecy * Information Commissioner argued in court hearing today that Tate failed to show how disclosing sponsorship details would harm its commercial interest. * The art museum is refusing to publish sponsorship fees despite ending the deal with BP.[1] Tate representative argued that commercial confidentiality bound…
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We’re taking Tate to the Information Tribunal over #BPsecrets
Next Wednesday, we’re taking Tate to the Information Tribunal for refusing to reveal details of BP sponsorship. The disputed information is the amounts BP gave after 2006 and until 2012. This is despite a previous court ruling, and despite the fact that the sponsorship deal is ending in 2017. Thanks to a heap of internal…
5 May 2016 anna -
Media advisory: Tate to defend its BP secrecy in court, 11 May (hearing details)
Media advisory: Tate to defend its BP secrecy in court, 11 May (hearing details) * Art museum refusing to make public sponsorship details despite ending the deal with BP.[1] * Hearing scheduled for 11 May 2016. * British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and Royal Opera House believed to be reconsidering their sponsorship deals with BP by…
