From Greenwashing To Artwashing; Oil Majors Desperate To Neutralize Local Opposition

[hatrack]

Oil companies are sponsoring the arts around the world on an “epidemic” scale as a cynical PR strategy to improve their reputation, a new book argues. Mel Evans, a campaigner who five years ago was one of two activists to gatecrash Tate Britain’s summer party and pour molasses on the floor of the gallery, has written Artwash, which explores the scale and impact of oil arts sponsorship. It is published on Monday to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Evans argues that oil companies sponsor the arts for two reasons. In London, for example, BP wants the prestige of being associated with the UK’s leading arts organisations. Companies also try to sponsor the arts where they face local protests.

Evans said Shell had tried to sponsor folk festivals on the west coast of Ireland, where their Rossport gas pipeline has been a controversial issue for more than a decade. Statoil sponsors art projects in Canada because it is “trying to secure a political relationship in order to access the tar sands there”.

“If we are to consider a future beyond fossil fuel and that’s what the divestment movement and climate movement is looking towards, we can’t let our minds be filtered by big oil. Corporate sponsorship poses a threat to us … it is a cynical PR strategy. “Oil companies like BP don’t do this sponsorship generously, they do it because they desperately want an association with galleries like Tate and the British Museum in order to cover up damage that they are doing around the world and ‘artwash’ their image. They don’t deserve this public image scoring and we want to take that away from them.”

EDIT

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/19/oil-companies-arts-sponsorship-cynical-pr-strategy-says-activist

[Demeter]

1. The Catholic Church did it, too.

Religion may have started it all...I'm trying to recall a secular outbreak of 1% funded public art (other than the WPA), but I'm not coming up with any examples. Well, Rome had some impressive infrastructure projects, often lavishly decorated with themes featuring their gods...I don't know about Asia...Buddhist and Hindu temples, maybe? War memorials?

Often the Church blackmailed the Rich into donating for chapels and art, in forgiveness of their sins.

But any portable secular art was kept for private enjoyment by the 1%, until it was donated or sold (or confiscated by Nazis) and put into public museums.

And then, there are the mansions of the rich and famous...their estates.

[MisterP]

2. what art historian did all this come from? Kenneth Clark?