166 artists sign Guardian letter opposing BP's presence in Tate

This letter was pulled together by PLATFORM/Licence to Spill...

The Guardian, Wednesday 20 April 2011: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/20/tate-end-relationship-with-bp?INTCMP=SRCH

In the year since its catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has massively ramped up its investment in controversial tar sands extraction in Canada, has been shown to have been a key backer of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, and has attempted to commence drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. While BP continues to jeopardise ecosystems communities and the climate by the reckless pursuit of "frontier" oil, cultural institutions like Tate damage their reputation by continuing to be associated with such a destructive corporation.

The massive cuts to public arts funding in the UK have left hundreds of culturally important arts organisations in a position of great financial vulnerability, which means that the debate about the appropriateness of particular potential corporate sponsors like BP and Shell is more relevant than ever. As people working in the arts, we believe that corporate sponsorship does not exist in an ethical vacuum. In light of the negative social and ecological impacts of BP around the world, we urge Tate to demonstrate its commitment to a sustainable future by ending its sponsorship relationship with BP. 

 

Naomi Klein writer

John Keane artist

Lucy R Lippard writer

Matthew Herbert sound artist/composer

Charles Thomson artist and co-founder, The Stuckists

Billy Childish artist

Leila Galloway artist, senior lecturer, DMU

Professor Brian Holmes cultural critic

Beverly Naidus artist, educator activist

Lorena Rivero de Beer performance artist, Free University of Liverpool

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith artist, cultural art worker

Lisa Wesley artist

Dr Wallace Heim academic writer

Fabio Sassi artist

Milena Placentile curator

Beka Economopoulos, Jason Jones and Ange Tran Not An Alternative arts collective

Emma Byron artist

Gary Anderson artist and educator, Free University of Liverpool

Lena Simic artist, Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home

Lucy Neal producer, artist, educator

Rebecca Solnit writer activist

CJ Mitchell deputy director, Live Art Development Agency

the vacuum cleaner artist

Michelle Waters artist

Kooj Chuhan artist, creative produce

Salette Gressett International Arts Manager

Matthias von Hartz director, Hamburg International Festival

Dr. Loraine Leeson artist, Fulbright Scholar in Residence University of Washington Tacoma US

Amy Balkin artist and lecturer, California College of the Arts San Francisco, US

Mark McGowan artist, associate lecturer, Chelsea College of ArtJohn Jordan Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination

Cameron Davis artist, professor, University of Vermont

John Volynchook photographer

Roxane Permar artist

Noel Douglas artist, designer

Fran Crowe artist

Ritu Sood painter, writer

Monika Vykoukal curator 40

Cecilia Wee curator, writer

Hayley Newman artist

Jane Trowell artist, educator, Platform

Stephen Duncombe professor, New York University

Jonathan Baxter artist, arts organiser

Alejandro Meitin Ala Plastica

Carrie Reichardt co-founder, Treatment Rooms

Mike Russell photographer

Sean Scullion author and owner, Paganarchy Press

Aidan Jolly musician, digital artist, community artist

Jeffrey Blackler photographer

Brett Bloom artist

Mark Vallen painter, printmaker, writer

Carolyn M Stubbs fine artist, writer

Gloria Dawson writer

Ryan Van Winkle writer

Caroline Halliday artist

Doug Minkler artist

Tim Jeeves artist

Margareta Kern artist

Pamela Gilmore performer

Dr. Julia Lee Barclay writer, director

Ellie Harrison artist

Greg Patch artist

Calum F. Kerr artist

John Ledger artist

Phil Maxwell artist

Hazuan Hashim artist

Camilla Cancantata musician

Britt Jurgensen independent performance maker

Tom Besley assistant manager, Resonance FM

Christa Drennan consultant, mental health and the arts

Raoul Martinez artist

Carys Bryan artist

Jody Joanna Boehnert designer

Bridget McKenzie cultural consultant

Edgeworth Johnstone artist

Victoria Lucas artist

Mary Paterson artist

Nick Viney artist40

Peter Harrison artist

Alana Jelinek artist

Karen Grant artist

Mikk Murray artist

Robby Herbst artist, teacher, Llano Del Rio Collective

Maria Bartolo fine art lecturer

Peter Cusack sound artist, field recordist

Marcia Farquhar sculptor and story-teller

Jordan Baseman artist

Jem Finer artist

Marsha Bradfield artist

John Cussans artist

Tim O'Riley artist

Josephine Berry Slater editor, Mute magazine

Jennet Thomas artist, senior lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art

Cat Phillipps artist

Anna Best artist

Paul Noble artist

Andy Best media artist

John Hartley artist, co-director, Difference Exchange

Jonathan Allen artist

Alex Brew artist, curator, writer

Ben Eastop arts consultant

Gareth Evans writer, curator

Angela Kingston curator

Jo Joelson artist, co-director, London Fieldworks

Phil England co-founder, Resonance FM

Max Pugh film-maker

Neil Callaghan artist

Jamie Perera sound artist

Alaina Simone independent curator, artist agent and creative consultant

Marianne Soisalo artist, eko noiz

Felix Gonzales film-maker

Hemant Anant Jain writer, illustrator

Kerry Burton artist

Peter Offord artist

Sai Murai (Simon Murray) poet, artist, Liquorice Fish

Immo Klink artist, photographer

Amber Hickey artist

Kate Rich artist 40

Sue Palmer artist

Siobhan Mckeown video editor

Maya Ramsay artist

Lisa Nowlain artist

Stuart Bracewell artist

Jon Sack artist, writer

Professor Stephen Bottoms University of Leeds

Helen Sloane curator

Ed McKeon contemporary music specialist, curator, lecturer and broadcaster

Ian Mack painter

Heather McRobie novelist, journalist

Amy Scaife photographer

Dr Isabelle Fremeaux Birkbeck College

Guppi Bola art activist

Silvia Sellitto artist

Dr Anja Kanngieser radio-maker, Birkbeck College

Muriel Louveau performer, composer

Ruppe Koselleck artist

Ryan Frank designer

Simon Scardanelli composer

Yolanda de los Bueis artist

Space Hijackers artists, performers

Darren Sutton art-interventionist, Liberate Tate

Isabeau Doucet painter

Federico Zukerfeld artist, member of the International Errorist movement

Mark Godber producer

Sam Trotman producer

Dr Hilary Ramsden artivist, researcher

Gill Lloyd and Judith Knight directors, arts admin

Tom Pengelly artist

Rick Burgess artist

Lawrence Sullivan artist, researcher Chelsea College of Art and Design

Shelley Sacks social sculpture practitioner

Isa Suarez composer, sound artist

Justin Randolph Thompson artist

Dathini Mzayiya artist

Liliana Dmitrovic artist

Rob Van Beek artist

PG Lyons artist, editor40

Kristian Buus photographer

Jaime Gili visual artist

Marc James Léger cultural worker

Hugh Lewis film-maker, artist

Andrew Boyd author, producer

Katherine Ball artist

Luke Munn artist, curator

Clare Patey artist, curator

Kenny Young Artists Project Earth