Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Activists hail end of 27-year BP sponsorship deal with British Museum

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Guardian
  • 3 Jun 2023 14:07
4 Min Read

The victory hailed as "massive" marks a drawback of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts world.

  • x
  • Activists hail end of 27-year BP sponsorship deal with British Museum
    The activist theatre group protest against the sponsorship of the British Museum (AFP)

According to new disclosures, BP’s sponsorship of the British Museum has just ended, closing one of the most controversial deals in the last years and marking the nearly complete retreat of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts world.

The Museum confirmed after its most honest admission so far, gotten through freedom of information requests seen by The Guardian, that no more exhibitions will be sponsored by BP and that "no other contracts or agreements" are being in effect with BP.

The developments were hailed by campaigners and described as a "massive victory" after the 25 years where the Museum’s Great Court has been the scene of environmental protests that were disruptive.

This was a dramatic retreat from BP’s arts, which was, until recently, one of the main sponsors in the UK. Over several years, the Royal Opera House, the Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Scottish Ballet have all ended funding partnerships of many decades with the energy giant.

Only the Science Museum is still backed by BP, as it funds its education academy.

Since 1996, BP has sponsored the British Museum. The British Museum and BP's most recent five-year contract officially ended in February, but the British Museum and BP have repeatedly refused to make clear that their association was terminated, raising suspicions of a secretive link between the two.

Campaigners are worried that the oil company would be lined up as a prospective backer for the ambitious £1 billion reconstruction project that the Museum is now planning.

Read: BP racks up colossal profits in Q1 amid struggling households

Within the new disclosures acquired by attorneys working for the advocacy group Culture Unstained, the Museum said "certain terms" of the agreement still apply. This is because the Museum orally promised to allow BP to use its "supporter benefits" until the end of 2023.

Related News

Britons overwhelmingly reject Starmer's asylum hotel policy

Irish band silenced at UK festival for holding Palestinian flag

The supporter benefits will not be specified, but they are anticipated to include hospitality benefits, like using the Museum's spaces for business events. This, however, has nothing to do with how the operations of the Museum are paid for.

The Museum just reiterated a previous statement when asked to comment on the disclosures this week, saying that "BP is a valued long term supporter of the museum, and our current partnership runs until this year." As for BP, it did not answer any request for comment.

The news showed a "massive victory" according to Chris Garrard, Culture Unstained’s co-director, who added that "if it is serious about responding to the climate crisis, the museum must now confirm that there will be no future relationships with fossil fuel producers, take down BP’s name from its lecture theatre and roundly reject the climate-wrecking business it represents."

Ahdaf Soueif, the British-Egyptian novelist who resigned in 2019 as a trustee of the Museum, partly in protest at the BP deal, said that "it is important that institutions like the British Museum do not give Big Oil the opportunity to look like a force for good in society; denying them this platform is important."

  • A protest against BP sponsorship at the British Museum in 2015. (AFP)
    A protest against BP sponsorship at the British Museum in 2015 (AFP)

Not only this, but she noted that the institution was "enormously important" and influential – especially among children. 

"At this time of global crisis, which particularly impacts the young, the museum should be directing its weight, its creativity and its resources to helping to create the world the coming generations need to live in," Soueif added.

There have been undertones of embarrassment behind the scenes as protests against the alliance have grown, despite the Museum's constant insistence on the importance of cooperation with BP.

A former regular visitor from Hove, Louise Jolly, wrote to the Museum last month to express her reluctance to bring her kids while it was BP-sponsored.

A reply told her that it was back then "a really great time for you and your children to visit us. These exhibitions are not sponsored by BP and we do not currently have any other exhibitions sponsored by BP."

The Museum’s chair, George Osborne, announced last November a "complete reimagination" of the Museum and said he wanted it to become a net zero institution.

  • Britain
  • Fossil Fuel Production
  • BP
  • Fossil Fuels
  • United Kingdom

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS