Semana de protestas en el mundo del arte. Mientras en Buenos Aires 715 artistas le dicen NO a donaciones para el MamBa y los indignados se instalan en la Documenta, en la Tate Modern de Londres, cerca de cien activistas depositaron una pala de una turbina en la «sala de turbinas» como protesta por el patrocinio de BP a esta institución. Los miembros del grupo de presión Liberate Tate llevó hasta este lugar las secciones de la pala de 16,5 metros a través del puente Thames Millenium en la mañana del sábado antes de montarla en la celebre Sala de Turbinas.
La pala de tonelada y media, tomada de un aerogenerador en País de Gales, fue presentada a la Tate junto con una petición oficial para que pueda formar parte de la colección permanente de la galería.
Protesters take 16-metre wind turbine blade to Tate Modern
The one and a half tonne blade, taken from a decommissioned wind turbine in Wales, was presented to Tate staff along with an official request for it to be made part of the gallery’s permanent collection.
Liberate Tate spokeswoman Sharon Palmer said that «in a time of climate crisis» visitors to the gallery «should not be made to feel that they’re legitimising» oil firms such as BP.
Last December, Tate’s director, Sir Nicholas Serota, was presented with a petition from 8,000 Tate members and visitors, organised by Liberate Tate and two other campaign groups, Platform and Art Not Oil.
BP’s sponsorship of British arts institutions, including the National Gallery and the Royal Opera House, is worth more than £1m a year. It first attracted protests after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
Two months later, five gallons of molasses were poured down Tate Britain’s stairs at its summer party. Demonstrators also released helium balloons with dead fish attached in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Gallery staff shot the balloons down with air rifles.
Sponsorship is increasingly contentious as arts organisations make up the shortfall in government funding.
A spokeswoman for the Tate said: «Tate can confirm at 11.40am today there was an incident in which a wind turbine blade was left in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. The blade has now been removed by Tate’s security staff.»
BP could not be reached for comment.
- The Gift performance by Liberate Tate Tate Modern 7 July 2012 Credit: Ian Buswell
- The Gift performance by Liberate Tate Tate Modern 7 July 2012 Credit: Ian Buswell
- The Gift performance by Liberate Tate Tate Modern 7 July 2012 Credit: Ian Buswell
The Gift performance by Liberate Tate Tate Modern 7 July 2012 Credit: Ian Buswell
