NPG drops BP judge from Portrait Award panel

This from our friends at Culture Unstained: https://cultureunstained.org/2020/05/04/bp-dropped-as-judge-of-portrait… BP DROPPED AS JUDGE OF PORTRAIT AWARD AFTER 23 YEARS May 4, 2020 For the first time in 23 years, BP has not had a representative on the judging panel of the National Portrait Gallery’s annual BP Portrait Award. The prize’s sponsorship by the oil giant attracted significant controversy last year when artist and judge of the 2019 award, Gary Hume, powerfully spoke out against the partnership in a letter to the Gallery’s director sent on the eve of the prize ceremony. The following month, Hume was joined by 77 other leading artists, including Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor, in signing a public letter urging the Gallery to “remove the BP representative from the judging panel.” The Gallery has denied that this significant shift in its approach was a concession to the artists’ demands, instead telling The Guardian that the change was “jointly agreed” with BP. BP succeeded tobacco manufacturer John Player as the title sponsor of the portrait award in 1990 as the tide turned on tobacco funding, and BP has had a representative on the panel since 1997. Former judges have included then CEO of BP John Browne, its Director of Policies and Technology Dr Chris Gibson-Smith, and for the last 17 years, BP’s Director of UK Arts & Culture Des Violaris. Those artists who last July signed a letter alongside Gary Hume, urging the Gallery to drop BP, included former Portrait Award winners and shortlisted artists, and Turner Prize winners Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, Gillian Wearing (herself a former judge), Mark Wallinger and Anish Kapoor. A spokesperson for Culture Unstained, said: “Last year, 78 leading artists – including former winners and those shortlisted for the prize – powerfully raised this issue with the Gallery. Now, after 23 years, BP is no longer on the judging panel. That’s no coincidence. Right now, the government needs to urgently commit to properly funding the cultural sector so that arts organisations can weather the challenges of Covid-19. Our galleries and museums should not come under pressure to partner with companies fuelling the climate crisis just because the government is failing to step up and support the sector through a different crisis.” This year’s announcement will take place online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, in 2019 proceedings were delayed when activist theatre group BP or not BP? temporarily blocked entrances to the Gallery which forced VIP guests to climb over a wall in order to enter the building for the award ceremony. PRESSURE MOUNTS ON NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY National Galleries Scotland announced in November that it would no longer host the tour of the BP Portrait Award while it remains sponsored by BP. The trustees publicly stated that: “We recognise that we have a responsibility to do all we can to address the climate emergency. For many people, the association of this competition with BP is seen as being at odds with that aim.” In his initial letter to the Director of the National Portrait Gallery last June, Gary Hume highlighted how: “The evidence that our planet is rapidly changing – sparking mass extinctions, rising sea-levels, extreme weather and collapsing ecosystems – is undeniable. And BP is actively exacerbating that crisis, with no plan to stop producing massive amounts of fossil fuels for decades to come.” Today, BP is responding to the sharp fall in the oil price due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite claiming that it is acting on concerns about its contribution to climate change, around 97% of BP’s investments still remain in oil and gas extraction. The company’s much trumpeted “net zero” target, announced in February, has also been widely criticised as being “fuzzy and vague” due to its lack of detail. Prior to its closure in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Portrait Gallery had announced plans to close for three years in June for a major refurbishment. There has been speculation that the controversial BP sponsorship deal might be quietly ended during this time as the Gallery, when asked, would only confirm that it was “currently considering options for our annual competitions”. --------- See also https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/may/03/bp-not-to-take-par…