Stolen dreams and the small people – BP, Russia & Deepwater Horizon
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Apr 11, 2014
I’d wanted to to attend the BP AGM, but confined to my sick bed I had to make do with following it online. Watching the company webcast, reading the transcripts of the speeches and, most vitally, following the brilliant live-tweets of my colleagues Louise Rouse of ShareAction and Charlie Kronick of Greenpeace UK. In part...
Gulf Coast organisations respond to Liberate Tate’s ‘BP Trial’ performance
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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...
Shell suspends Arctic drilling for 2013
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Feb 28, 2013
We’re celebrating Shell’s announcement that the drilling programme in the Alaskan Arctic has been halted for the year! Here are a few perspectives on why this has happened and what’s going to happen next… 1) Company public relations describe this as an effort to ensure the drilling is safe: “Shell remains committed to building an...
Shell commences Arctic drilling, US regulator releases ‘skimpy’ permit report
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Sep 10, 2012
“It’s the first time a drill bit has touched the sea floor in the U.S. Chukchi Sea in more than two decades,” – a Shell spokesperson said as the company announced its “historic” first test well in offshore Alaska. And now is not a good time. Shell’s permit to drill was conditional on the company’s...
Standing up to BP: The Way of Water on stage
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May 9, 2012
We’re very pleased to host this guest blog by Caridad Svich, playwright of The Way of Water, which you can witness at a reading 3pm this Sunday 13th May for FREE at Rosemary Branch Theatre, London. Over the month of April, over 1000 audiences from Occupy Ashland in Oregon to the National Theatre Institute in Waterford, CT, from...
The Big 3: oil co’s and legal cases this month
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Feb 16, 2012
Three of the world’s biggest private oil companies face landmark legal actions this February. Here is a brief run down of the main cases, what they are about and why they matter. 1. US v BP At the centre of the legal fallout from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010 is a complex civil...
Oil, art & human rights links
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Jan 25, 2012
EU oil companies including Shell and Total will be banned from importing and purchasing Iranian oil by new sanctions, reported Reuters. As Iran threatens to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of global oil shipments, the UK foreign minister William Hague downplayed the likelihood of war.
How John Browne, BP and the Old Boys Network keep the arts well-oiled
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Jan 13, 2012
It’s 10.30am on a spectacularly sunny winter’s day and I’m in the Members’ Room at Tate Modern. The room overlooks the Square Mile – London’s financial district – and the view symbolises the growing pressures on artists and arts organisations to seek funding from the private sector, specifically from business. Looking once again at the panel...
UK government backs risky offshore drilling
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Dec 31, 2011
Despite serious environmental concerns, the heightened risk of major accidents and inadequate regulatory oversight, the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change has awarded 46 new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, including in the ecologically sensitive West of Shetlands area. Speaking to BBC News, Adam Ma’anit of Platform condemned the move: “There...
Read online now – Not If But When: Culture Beyond Oil
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Nov 27, 2011
Now available to read online – click on the Issuu link above, or you can download the publication as a pdf here. For hard copies by post visit this page for a range of payment options or you can purchase it from the Live Art Development Agency online shop here. December 2011: Art collective Liberate...
Culture Beyond Oil Publication Launch – Tuesday 29th Nov @FreeWordCentre
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Nov 7, 2011
New Arts Publication – ‘Not if but when: Culture Beyond Oil’ TUESDAY 29th November – Free Word Centre 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA IMPORTANT – Previously this event had been advertised on Monday 28th November. Due to circumstances outside of our control, this date has been changed to Tuesday 29th...
‘Not if but when: Culture Beyond Oil’ – order your copy now
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Nov 7, 2011
‘Not if but when: Culture Beyond Oil’ is a publication that sets out to discuss oil sponsorship of the arts. The single issue, limited edition publication features artworks in dialogue with the BP Gulf of Mexico catastrophe and articles that set out the compelling arguments for an end to BP and Shell’s murky involvement with...
