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The Cardinal’s Song – In honour of Suzi Gablik and her bright bold inspiring words
Blog post -
May 26, 2022
Amongst the White Oaks and Hickory trees at the headwaters of the New River, the Cardinals are singing. Their brilliant red wings flashing amongst the silver branches and trunks. Spring time in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia. Suzi Gablik is leaving her body behind. As breath moves slowly in and out of her lungs,...
‘Oil is the poison: Action is the antidote’ – sixteen days in the movement to end fossil fuels
Blog post -
Apr 22, 2022
At 8.25 on Friday 15th April, as the rush hour traffic poured off the M4 at Chiswick, four activists stepped out in front of an Eddie Stobart oil tanker. Two held up a banner declaring ‘Just Stop Oil’ whilst two others disabled the braking system and clambered up onto the back of the tanker. Passing...
Time to kick Oil out of Football? – The Economic War, part 3
Blog post -
Mar 23, 2022
Roman Abramovich under sanctions! Chelsea up for sale! Scandal engulfs Everton FC as a key donor Alisher Usmanov is added to the UK government’s list of ‘named Oligarchs’. The Economic War has opened a new front on the pitch. Football is pulled into the Russian invasion of Ukraine just as Western corporations and the oil...
We will Remember them – those who were hung and those who executed the hanging
Blog post -
Nov 19, 2015
Here again. Standing before the white Portland Stone cenotaph of the Shell Center. A crowd of fifty or more in silent attention as the names of the dead are read out: Saturday Dobee Nordu Eawo Daniel Gbooko Paul Levera Felix Nuate Baribor Bera Barinem Kiobel John Kpuinen Ken Saro-Wiwa The chief mourner is Lazarus Tamana,...
This Bitter Earth – rendering the invisible visible
Blog post -
Nov 2, 2015
During my leave over the summer I was really glad to catch the performance Arctic Requiem outside the Shell Centre in August. Here’s a piece I wrote about it, prior to Shell’s decision to cease drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The rain lashes down. A strong south westerly drives it along the Thames, across Jubilee...
Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts
Publication -
Jan 21, 2015
Order Artwash for just £10 (RRP £12.99) UK postage or collect in person: Go to our shop for checkout and more options As major oil companies face continual public backlash, many have found it helpful to engage in “art washing”—donating large sums to cultural institutions to shore up their good name. But what effect does...
2014: ten moments of a culture beyond oil
Blog post -
Dec 18, 2014
What will we remember about the oil industry in 2014? Aside from falling oil prices and ongoing debates about fracking (did you know New York state just banned it?), there are more and more signs this year that ‘social licence’ is becoming the industry’s largest challenge (like this Canadian industry expert points out). Where would oil companies be without...
Infographic: Culture Clash – Arts & Oil Money
Publication -
Apr 26, 2014
Download as a pdf At the end of 2011, BP announced a £10 million sponsorship deal for four of London’s flagship cultural institutions over a five year period. The Culture Clash infographic shows pie charts of the four institutions – Tate, British Museum, Royal Opera House and the National Portrait gallery and breaks down their...
Shell no longer sponsoring Southbank Classic series – a timeline.
Blog post -
Jan 24, 2014
At the launch of the 2014/15 Southbank Centre Classic Season, Shell was conspicuously absent, after having sponsored the season for a number of years. The artistic director, Jude Kelly, announced the new classical music season on last night, with the ‘Shell Classic International’ concerts now replaced with an ‘International Orchestra Series’. The change comes after...
Artists call on Southbank Centre to end Shell sponsorship on anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s execution
Press release -
Nov 11, 2013
A group of artists, musicians and authors who have all performed at the Southbank Centre have signed a letter calling on the arts institution to drop Shell sponsorship on the 18th anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. [1] The 21 artists, including actor Mark Rylance, playwright Mark Ravenhill, the...
Southbank Centre artists call for Shell to be dropped as sponsor on Ken Saro-Wiwa anniversary
Blog post -
Nov 11, 2013
A group of artists, musicians and authors who have all performed at the Southbank Centre have signed a letter (see below) calling on the arts institution to drop Shell sponsorship on the 18th anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. The 21 artists, including actor Mark Rylance, playwright Mark Ravenhill, the...
Divestment and ending arts sponsorship – both tools of oil company stigmatization
Blog post -
Nov 1, 2013
Divestment is very much the climate campaign buzzword at the moment. Tonight in London there’s the culmination of the Fossil Free Europe tour with divestment doyen Bill McKibben hoping to emulate the success of the States-side campaign over here, while last week we co-published with People & Planet and 350.org the report Knowledge and Power...
