Campaigners Rejoice At End Of BP/Tate Alliance
Following a tenure fraught with controversy in recent years, BP have announced the end their sponsorship of the Tate brand.
Speaking to the Independent, Peter Mather, head of BP in the UK, said: “The decision to end our contractual relationship with the Tate has been a very difficult one. It reflects the extremely challenging business environment in which we are operating.”
The emphasis on the sponsorship end being part of a wider business environment issue has been greeted with derison from protest groups, including Greenpeace, who said today
'It's laughable for BP to claim that ditching a sponsorship deal - worth annually about one tenth of the CEO’s 2016 pay rise - is a cost-saving decision.'
Yasmin De Silva of art collective Liberate Tate - who staged an anti-BP performance in 2011 where a volunteer was doused in oil inside Tate Britain - told After Nyne
“We’re thrilled with the news Tate is rid of BP. About thirty years ago, the tide turned on tobacco sponsorship, and now the same thing is happening to the oil industry. Of course Tate won’t rub it in BP’s face by acknowledging this decision is the result of the increasing public concern about climate change and the huge number of artists, members and gallery-goers speaking out about against the controversial deal.”
It is unclear at this stage who will fill the Tate's substantial sponsorship gap in BP's stead. Yasmin De Silva continues
“BP is a company whose business model depends on trashing the climate, and it shouldn’t receive credibility by being associated with our most-cherished cultural institutions. April will see the sixth anniversary of the start of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, we think of all the people around the world who have suffered the impacts of BP’s operations and can now know that Tate will no longer wipe its name clean. It’s time for other institutions sponsored by BP, Shell and other oil companies – like National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Opera House and British Museum – to follow Tate’s lead and end their deals.”
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