The following is an open letter from Just Stop Oil and Youth Demand:
Dear NMDC,
Thank you for your open letter regarding the public interventions in gallery spaces these past few years, and for recognising that the world is in a very dark place. We represent Just Stop Oil and Youth Demand, whose supporters have taken action at the National Gallery and are taking to the streets on 2nd November for the Umbrella March.
These are the actions of a public who are scared, angry, but unwilling to give up. People un afraid to use the cultural power of their national institutions when those institutions fail to do so. We have some ideas on how you can mitigate this. Let’s meet next week, in a public location at the National Gallery. We have action takers who have risked liberty to call for an end to oil and gas that would love to speak with Dr. Gabriele Finaldi. We’ll leave the soup at home.
These actions cause small amounts of damage and disruption in order to bring to attention the enormous damage and destruction that our government is supporting. We note that your statement does not acknowledge the climate emergency or your responsibilities as custodians of our national treasures. They are in danger from the deadly storms, fires, and social upheaval that threaten museums in Florida and Athens. Today you take issue with soup and stickers, but tomorrow you will contend with rising waters in the Thames and deadly heat waves in the city. People disrupt museum and gallery spaces to break the illusion that everything is fine. We need institutions to confront their responsibilities at this time – head on.
Since Just Stop Oil’s campaign began in March 2022 their first demand to end new oil and gas licenses in the UK has been met. For this successful campaign Phoebe and Anna, who threw soup in the National Gallery, were imprisoned. We now continue in order to demand a total end to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Will you join us?
2023 was the hottest year on record, far exceeding all predictions from the Met Office, Nasa, Berkley North and Carbon Brief. We are facing the end yet our government chooses to make the problem worse. Britain is failing every climate target, so much that the Government’s Net Zero plan was ruled unlawful in the High Court. Scientists are unable to communicate this successfully. The arts are unsuccessful in refuting climate denial. Politics has failed us. Resistance is our only remaining option.
There is a rich history of protest in public gallery spaces. We are proud to be part of that heritage – from the Suffragettes who slashed pictures in the National Gallery to anti-Sackler protests at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Will you use your immense power to safeguard your collections and the public who enjoy them?
Let’s work together. We look forward to hearing from you.
Courage calls
Just Stop Oil and Youth Demand
