The British Museum said in a statement on Dec 19 that British Petroleum (BP) will provide £50 million (~$63 million) in funding over the next decade to help the museum meet its carbon neutrality and facility modernization goals.
Climate emergency activists who have targeted the museum for demonstrations over the years were shocked at the news, with Culture Unstained stating that the institution is “burying [its] head in the sand,” and museum trustee Muriel Gray has reportedly stepped down from the board in protest, though the reasons for her resignation are not confirmed.
In its statement, the British Museum briefly outlined a plan for the restoration and renovation of its Bloomsbury location, including the debut of its Architectural Research Collection site, a “state of the art energy center” to help phase out the institution’s reliance on fossil fuels, and an architectural competition for the redesign of one-third of the museum’s galleries. The museum also notes that it will remain open to the public as these changes unfold.
BP has sponsored the British Museum since 1996 and was once a prominent sponsor for a variety of institutions and venues across the United Kingdom’s arts and culture sector. A majority have since ended their financial partnerships with the company in the last decade, including the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, the Scottish Ballet, the National Galleries Scotland, the Royal Opera House, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Climate activists have been puzzled by the museum’s stated environmental goals in relation to its continued acceptance of Big Oil funding. At the British Museum’s annual trustees dinner in November 2022, museum chair George Osbourne announced that the institution will “no longer [be] a destination for climate protest but instead an example of climate solution,” ushering in the £1 billion (~$1.2 billion) “Rosetta Project” that would help the institution set course for “net zero carbon” operations.
But throughout the last year, the British Museum had repeatedly dodged questions about its future with BP, continuously stating that “museums today have a mixed funding model and we need corporate and private money to fulfill our public mission.”
Earlier disputes
Earlier in June, the British Museum reportedly ended its 27-year partnership with BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, at the end of the year. However, the museum did not confirm the end of their arrangement with the fossil fuel company, but BP’s last contract with the museum ended in February after five years. Disclosures obtained by lawyers for the activist group Culture Unstained via freedom of information requests show that “certain terms” of the deal mean that the museum is allowing BP to keep its “supporter benefits” through December.
According to the news articles published in various magazines and newspapers, a museum spokesperson said “BP is a valued long term supporter of the museum and our current partnership runs until this year,” in June 2023.
Nevertheless, this is a “massive victory,” Culture Unstained co-director Chris Garrard told the Guardian, which first reported the news. “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.”
Later on, in December, the British Museum announced ambitions to become a net carbon-zero museum, aided by its £1 billion ($1.24 billion) “Rosetta Project” to retrofit its 170-year-old building. At the annual trustees dinner, chair George Osbourne proclaimed that the institution would “no longer [be] a destination for climate protest but instead an example of climate solution.”
Protests at the museum were raised because of the BP sponsorship quest. Among the more notable events at the British Museum were party-crashers dressed as Greek gods who poured oil on themselves at the 2019 opening of an exhibition about the ancient city of Troy, and camping out in front of the exhibition in a Trojan Horse.
