http://richmedia.lse.ac.uk/publiclecturesandevents/20131030_1830_pointOf...

Earlier related post on this site

From PLATFORM's Unravelling the Carbon Web:

Unprecedented coalition from the arts condemns BP-sponsorship of the Tate
171 figures from the arts sign letter on the day Tate celebrates 20 years of BP funding

[Editor's note: Peter Fend of Ocean Earth Construction and Development Corporation, and a longtime post.thing.net contributor, is signatory 19.]

Sunday, June 27, 2010. A letter today was published in the Guardian today signed by 171 figures from the art world condemning BP’s sponsorship of cultural institutions in the UK. The letter has been published on the day that Tate Britain is hosting a party to celebrate 20 years of BP’s sponsorship. [1] A group of artists under the banner of ‘The Good Crude Britannia’ are planning on protesting outside the event, and will be handing out the “Licence to Spill’ briefing to people attending the party.[2]

Arts/activist organisation Platform [3] has gathered 171 signatories from the international arts community, for a letter that says:

“As crude oil continues to devastate coastlines and communities in the Gulf of Mexico, BP executives will be enjoying a cocktail reception with curators and artists in the Tate Britain. These relationships enable big oil companies to mask the environmentally destructive nature of their activities with the social legitimacy that is associated with such high profile cultural associations.”[4]

A related posting on this site.

from The Guardian:

The summer season of events at Britain's most prestigious galleries and museums will be picketed by artists and green groups intent on portraying BP's arts sponsorship as a toxic brand.

Protests are planned next Monday by an eco-alliance styling itself "Good Crude Britannia" at Tate Britain's celebration of its 20-year association with the international oil conglomerate.

Climate change activists, artists and musicians opposed to the fossil fuel industry are determined to highlight BP's link to the arts in the context of the company's international embarrassment over the continuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

If anyone is in Cornwall, UK on Saturday 1st September, you might like to drop into Tate St.Ives (www.tate.org.uk/stives)for a talk I'm giving on free software and open source as an area of contemporary art. The talk will provide a context for SUPERFLEX's FREE BEER project, which is currently being exhibited at Tate St Ives and within the Public Realm.

For those of you who couldn't make it across to Tate Modern in London for the Disrupting Narratives symposium on July 13th, the video archive is now live and can be accessed (with flash 8 or higher) at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/onlineevents/webcasts/disrupting_narratives/defau...