It's back to London with a wonderful opening at The 491 Gallery, Leytonstone on June 10th 2006, before the BP Portrait Awards ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday 13th June. A Week Of Workshops includes yoga, silk screenprinting, lifedrawing and much much more.
Download postcard ( pdf format - front and back click on images)
London Rising Tide brought to life the image used to publicise its Art Not Oil 2006 exhibition outside the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) on the night of the ceremony for the BP Portrait Award. Read more
Patrick Steele of the Museums Association has penned an article for The Museums Journal on corporate sponsorship of the arts.Of course BP and Rising Tide are featured. Here.
June 11-24 at the 491 Gallery, 491 Grove Green Road, E11 4AA, next to Leytonstone tube (Central line) Open 12-7pm.
June 29th - July 1st at The Foundry 84-86 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3JL, (Old Street tube)
August 2nd - 5th Big Green Gathering, Somerset
Also at Cargo in London, Norwich, Oxford, Bristol, Aberdeen, Woodcraft Folk Global Village 2006 , Details TBC. More events to come.
Leaflets, postcards, images & info available from: info@artnotoil.org.uk Tel: 07708 794665 c/o 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES.
There is also a short film 'Art Not Oil - the Film'coming out in mid 2006.
Artists, musicians, activists, and all people who care about our environment; Combat Greenwash! Get involved!
'Seen those BP ads on TV and in the Press? Impressed that the oil giant is getting the message on climate change?
Think Again. BP is also running a big advertising campaign in the US to coincide with the Montreal climate talks.
Both versions have the same graphics, the same nifty tune, the same style. But where as we Brits are told to “work out your carbon footprint it’s a start”, the American consumer is told: “We’re investing $15bn in finding new oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico it’s a start.”' --------------- You can see the ad that says this at here Scroll down to the one which is called Alexandra, and play the advert.
Renowned as a tireless sponsor of the arts and a committed environmentalist, BP also loves to create artwork using elemental geological forces. Here we present its latest hard-hitting piece, as part of the ongoing series 'LANDSCAPE IN OILS':Read more.( external links) 1, 2 3, 4.
Visit to the British Museum Michaelangelo exhibition with the Greenwash Guerillas on 23rd March 2006. Report plus pictures here.
At Mono, 12 King's Court, King Street, Glasgow G1 5RB, Feb 1 - Feb 28 2006, hosted by the Camcorder Guerillas, who had a film night and discussion of the issues on Feb 13th. Mono is Glasgow's only licensed Vegan restaurant, bar, microbrewery, record and fair trade shop.
ART NOT OIL at The Bongo Club, 37 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8BA; 0131 558 7604; www.thebongoclub.co.uk - indignation inspiration creation…solution?
The exhibition runs from Thursday 15th December to Monday 16th January 2006.
FREE PUBLIC OPENING: Sunday 18th December, 3-6pm: art - music - food - film - talk
Climate chaos is set to have a catastrophic effect on all of us, while hitting the poorest hardest. Oil is a curse that also fuels war, poverty and environmental destruction. Yet the companies most responsible are profiting handsomely, and they are still welcome it seems in many of our most prestigious public galleries and museums. Why?
As BP soaks up some of its £30m per day windfall profits with a soothingly duplicitous ad campaign, currently infesting UK airwaves, print media and billboards, the BP Portrait Award arrives at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh on the last leg of its 2005-6 UK tour. Meanwhile, its low-budget, high-impact alter ego Art Not Oil comes to Edinburgh's Bongo Club, offering up what it hopes is a truer portrait of an oil company, as well as a celebration of creative dissent. Catch both if you can, then make up your own mind.
If you come away concerned about the way arts sponsorship diverts public attention from the systematic abuses of the oil industry.
Concerned about the way arts sponsorship diverts public attention from the systematic abuses of the oil industry?
Let outgoing National Galleries of Scotland Director-General Timothy Clifford and incoming DG John Leighton know how you feel:
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
(0)131 624 6200 Fax: +44 (0)131 623 7126
Email: pginfo@nationalgalleries.org cc to
enquiries@nationalgalleries.org
If emailing, please copy your message to National Portrait Gallery boss Sandy Nairne - snairne@npg.org.uk - as well as to info@artnotoil.org.uk
'Seen those BP ads on TV and in the Press? Impressed that the oil giant is getting the message on climate change? Think Again. BP is also running a big advertising campaign in the US to coincide with the Montreal climate talks. Both versions have the same graphics, the same nifty tune, the same style. But where as we Brits are told to “work out your carbon footprint it’s a start”, the American consumer is told: “We’re investing $15bn in finding new oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico it’s a start.”' --------------- You can see the ad that says this at here Scroll down to the one which is called Alexandra, and play the advert.
Art Not Oil visited the Forth hotel in Sunderland in December 2005. BP chief John Brown holds a burning planet in the painting shown.
In further efforts to portray a 'nicer side' to BP, BP sponsored a lecture at Tate Britain with the architect David Adjaye and so clearly this was a perfect opportunity to raise the issue to Adjaye, hopefully embarrass Tate Britain and draw attention to the ugly phenomena that is art sponsorship by oil companies.
At the end of his lecture, the question and answer session seemed the perfect opportunity to do this. When asked of what he thought of BP's sponsorship of this lecture and of many exhibitions within major museums, he smugly replied that it had allowed this lecture to go ahead (which given that it was one of the most dull lectures I have ever been to, further added to my hatred of BP.)
He went on to add that it filled the vacuum left by the end of substantial government funding for the arts. Given the fact that Adjaye was being highly dismissive and laughing and the shifty behaviour of museum staff who were holding the microphone, I chose not to embark on a vitriolic rant and concluded by saying that many galleries and museums were operating without this funding and putting on interesting exhibitions and supporting unknown artists at the same time.- Mona
On November 10th 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni colleagues were hung by the Nigerian state for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell and Chevron. On the eve of the tenth anniversary of this execution, activists from London Rising Tide, Rhythms of Resistance, Rossport Solidarity Camp and London Earth First! came together to take action against Shell for its activities in Nigeria, in Ireland and worldwide.
Nine nooses were hung from lampposts directly in front of Shell’s UK headquarters on London’s South Bank. A pipeline decorated with slogans celebrating resistance to the curse of oil in the Niger Delta and in County Mayo in the past and right now were also on site, as were banners and a small but noisy samba band.
Also part of the picture was the situation in County Mayo, north west Ireland, which is the proposed site of a major new Shell gas development, currently being opposed energetically both locally and internationally: www.corribsos.com
The action was also in direct opposition to the new law designed to clamp down on protest in central London: freedomtoprotest.org.uk
Shell is also currently laundering its tarnished reputation by sponsoring the Rubens exhibition at the National Gallery, so the group made an unwelcome (to the gallery at least) visit there later in the day; There were no arrests, but it was a close-run thing.
The following day saw the culmination of the art/activism project Remember Saro-Wiwa: remembersarowiwa.com, as well as actions and commemorations all around the world: november10.org
Photos & more information on this action:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/327645.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/327611.html
Film of the two actions: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/327724.html
UK Shell in County Mayo Solidarity Campaign: stops_hell@yahoo.com
London Rising Tide: 07708 794665; london@risingtide.org.uk
www.londonrisingtide.org.uk
www.artnotoil.org.uk
See also: www.rhythmsofresistance.co.uk
Rossport Solidarity Camp 2006: www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=72740
www.freedomtoprotest.org.uk
And for more on Shell and the rest of them:
www.groundwork.org.za
www.gcmonitor.org
www.bucketbrigade.net
www.eraction.org
www.shellfacts.com
www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=246
www.carbonweb.org
With surprising ease, I joined the NPG and bought my members-only ticket to this event. £4 got me a glass of wine and a chance to hear NPG boss Sandy Nairne introduce 4 artists who've had work in this or previous year's BP Portrait Award exhibitions.
He mentioned in his preamble that it had been a very successful year, 'despite a summer of disruptions', which was I hope a reference to our interventions of various kinds.Meanwhile outside, ticket holders were being given 'Art Not Oil - a truer portrait of an oil company?' leaflets on their way in.
The 4 short presentations were thoughtful, open and often quite moving, as was much of their work, which was projected behind them, giving me an opening for my question, which was, more or less:
'I'm from Art Not Oil, which is organising an alternative exhibition to draw attention to BP's actual activities in the world,' I said. 'I'm sorry, but I don't think this is appropriate for this sort of-' the NPG rep responded.
'Here comes the question,' I steamrollered. 'The work we've seen tonight shows deep levels of truth and emotional intensity, but do the artists feel the presence of the BP logo underneath the paintings undermines or degrades them in any way?'
'I really don't think this is the sort of question we're here to address.
' 'Well what do the artists think?' To which the artists, ranged across the stage on chairs, said nothing, leaving a short silence that seemed to say a great deal about hidden censorship.
(One told me later that he was about to speak, but that he looked across at the woman from the NPG, who he could imagine was screaming internally 'Don't say anything bad about BP!'
I came back after that with a line about how this was a form of censorship, and do people know what BP is up to out in the world, to which there was a gentle groan from many in the audience, whose patience was suddenly exhausted. So I left it there, and allowed the Q&A to return to safer territory.
Afterwards, I went up and apologised to the artists for putting them on the spot. One, who had told me earlier that to withdraw from the exhibition would be hypocritical because he drives a car and uses oil in his life, was a bit pissed off. But not as pissed off as the woman from the NPG, who was furious with me, questioned whether I was actually a member, said I had completely that part of the evening, to which I replied by saying (obviously) that BP was ruining entire lives. But her shutters were down by that stage, replaced by an icy politeness which I spectacularly failed to melt with my light repartee.
Two audience members thanked me for my question as they were leaving, and there was only one tut against me (I think). Outside, I had a long chat with one artist and his friends. He seemed interested and even sympathetic as we all debated whether it was fair to single out artists in the way one friend perceived we had. I tried to reassure her that we didn't want to stand in judgement over artists, but that they were complicit in crucial ways, and that art will be a crucial part of changing the world, necessarily since we have so little time. We parted on good terms, and melted into the west end. - anon
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