On Valentine’s Day, activists staged a protest at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, calling for the institution to sever its connections with Henry Kravis, co-founder of investment firm KKR & Co., and his wife Marie-Josée Kravis. The Kravis couple, in addition to Marie-Josée Kravis’s role as museum board chair, have contributed millions of dollars to the museum. The activists, in a press release, accused KKR of profiting from exploitative business practices and investments in environmentally harmful projects, citing nearly $9 billion allocated to liquid natural gas storage and transportation initiatives.
Revision: Protesters made their way into the museum atrium on Valentine’s Day, chanting “MoMA Dump Kravis” and “We need clean air, not another billionaire.” Red confetti and fliers bearing the modified image of Roy Lichtenstein’s 1963 painting, “Drowning Girl,” with the text altered to read “The planet is drowning— Why won’t MoMA drop billionaire climate criminals?,” were dropped by the demonstrators. Additionally, they carried a banner reminiscent of artist Ed Ruscha, overlaying the message “MOMA DROP KRAVIS” atop Ruscha’s iconic depiction of a Standard Oil gas station engulfed in flames.
This isn’t the first protest at MoMA; previously, the museum was the scene of a significant Pro-Palestine protest just last Saturday, and a climate protest highlighting KKR’s involvement in fossil fuel projects occurred last September. The demand to remove Marie-Josée Kravis as MoMA’s chair was also central to a climate protest in June 2023. During the institution’s annual Party in the Garden fundraising event, activists set up signs, banners, and even a miniature oil rig outside.
