Director Criticises BP Sponsorship of British Museum

Maria Balshaw, the director of Tate, has expressed her views on BP’s sponsorship agreement with the British Museum (BM), stating that “the public has moved to a position where they think it [the BP arrangement] is inappropriate.”

In an interview with the Observer about her new book, *Gathering of Strangers: Why Museums Matter* (Tate Publishing), Balshaw also discussed the controversy surrounding Tate Britain’s 2021-22 exhibition *Hogarth and Europe*. The show faced criticism, particularly regarding the wall labels written by contemporary commentators, which one critic labeled as “wokeish drivel.”

In the interview, Balshaw is asked about sponsorship because, according to the Observer, she is “critical of the British Museum’s new £50m partnership with BP” in her new book. She responds: “I’ve never known a time when we weren’t concerned about funding; that’s a normal part of life as a museum director…. But the issue the BM faces in taking BP’s money is that the public now views it as inappropriate. There’s a dissonance between wanting to be seen as highly sensitive to other cultures and careful about our resource consumption, and accepting money from a company that hasn’t shown a true commitment to change. The new director of the British Museum [Nicholas Cullinan] will have to address a lot of public dismay.”

BP Deal of British Museum

In 2023 The British Museum said in a statement  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.

Later on, 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.

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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.