On Sunday 13 September, sixteen different groups took over BP-sponsored British Museum for a whole day of performances in resistance to oil sponsorship. This is a partial transcript of our performance that took place in the Museum’s room 56 (Mesopotamia collection). This is a performance by Platform London in solidarity with Azerbaijan’s political prisoners.…
We are not idealists. We know that art alone does not make the revolution. But we are not fools. We know that revolution is impossible without the art. Frente Popular, Dario Santillan Platform was invited to take part in the recent ‘Footprint Modulation: art, climate and displacement‘. This was a multi-site exhibition and season of…
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…
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…
In the glass confines of Holborn’s Display Gallery, in the lower recessed space an animal-like skin lays slung and discarded over a length of thick rope. Created by artists Ackroyd & Harvey, Pelt is a poignant image of death. On one side grass of differing shades creates a tiger’s delicate markings, on the other a raw hide-like…
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…
Shake! is excited to launch its youth-led research collective. It starts from questions about power that come up time and again as we make and remake Shake! Why are we young people always the objects of ‘research’ and ‘policy’? And why young people of colour in particular? We are not interested in being described, explained, being told…






