In 2016 Tate will decide whether to renew its current five-year sponsorship deal with BP. Tate’s Ethics Committee last reviewed BP sponsorship in 2010-11 to make a recommendation to the art museum’s Board of Trustees for or against renewal. This happened while increasing numbers of artists, Tate members, gallery visitors and commentators were challenging BP’s…
David Carrington explains why arts organisations seeking commercial support could learn important lessons from the way Tate conducts itself as revealed through the recent BP sponsorship Freedom of Information case. David is an independent consultant and governance adviser. This article is part of ‘Mind the Gap: expert evaluations of Tate’s ethical decision-making over BP‘. For…
by Bridget McKenzie Bridget McKenzie is a cultural learning consultant and director of Flow UK. Previously she was head of learning at the British Library for five years, and was Education Officer for Tate. This article is part of ‘Mind the Gap: expert evaluations of Tate’s ethical decision-making over BP’. For more expert comment and…
Assessment of minutes and processes of the Tate Ethics Committee based on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. By Tim Crook, Head of Media Law & Ethics and Radio in the department of Media & Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London. Holding the appointment of Reader in Media and Communication at Goldsmiths and Visiting…
The latest just in: British Museum’s BP secrets revealed BP Or Not BP? forced British Museum to reveal: BP sponsorship was just £596,000 per year from 2000- 2011 – around 0.8% of the Museum’s income. The figures were revealed under Freedom Of Information Act, just a few weeks after we forced Tate to admit that BP’s…
Article by Anna Galkina published in Dance UK magazine, March 2015. On a hot summer evening in July 2011, as the crowd in Trafalgar Square was settling down to enjoy a Royal Opera House production of Cinderella, a ballet dancer dressed as the White Swan appeared in front of the BP Big Screen. As she…
Artwash: Big Oil and The Arts by Mel Evans, out 20 April with Pluto Press To arrange interviews, contact Anna Galkina / [email protected] / @platformlondon For review copies or to arrange the publication of an abstract, contact Alison Alexanian / [email protected] New book analyses BP and Shell’s strategy to gain ‘social licence to operate’ by…
Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts is out 20.04.2015. Images and video here
We often get asked: if we want the arts to be free from sponsorship by climate-wrecking oil companies, where’s the money going to come from? And aren’t we just going to push art institutions towards other corporate sponsors (arms dealers, banks) with tarnished reputations to polish? My immediate answer to this question is in the…
This is a guest blog by Hannah Smith. A shorter version of this piece appeared in Diva Magazine’s blog. A strange thing happened the very first time I went to a pride march; usually a chatterbox, I fell silent. Watching the procession I was overwhelmed by a connection to the queer community – my community…







