{"id":514604,"date":"2025-10-20T14:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/514604\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:38:14","slug":"british-museum-ball-disrupted-by-climate-protestor-demanding-end-to-bp-sponsorship-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/514604\/","title":{"rendered":"British Museum ball disrupted by climate protestor demanding end to BP sponsorship – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British Museum\u2019s Pink Ball<\/a> fundraising gala on Saturday was disrupted when a climate protestor took to the stage during a speech by the museum\u2019s chair of trustees, George Osborne.<\/p>\n

More than 800 guests attended the \u00a32000\u2013per\u2013ticket event, including the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the artists Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin, who is a trustee of the museum. Ticket sales for the event raised around \u00a31.6m for the museum\u2019s international partnerships, though the final total raised from donations and a silent auction is expected to be much higher.<\/p>\n

The protestor reportedly worked as a waitress at the ball. In a video posted to Instagram<\/a> by the group campaign group Energy Embargo for Palestine she can be seen on stage next to Osborne, holding a sign which reads: \u201cDROP BP NOW\u201d.<\/p>\n

The protestor said: \u201cThe British Museum\u2019s \u00a350m sponsorship with BP provides cultural cover for a company that is causing climate collapse\u2026 If the British Museum truly wants to confront its cultural legacy, it [should] look at the way it is actively upholding imperialism today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protestor added that the museum should \u201cnot use the money from the Ambani family, [majority] owners of the Reliance company who are an oil, gas and surveillance corporation\u201d. Osborne, a former conservative member of parliament and chancellor of the exchequer, responded: \u201cIt is great to live in a democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its Instagram post, Energy Embargo for Palestine demanded that the British Museum establish an ethics committee comprising trustees, directorate members and union representatives to \u201coversee future funding opportunities, partnerships and political events at the museum\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taking to her own Instagram, the British singer and rapper M.I.A, who performed at the ball, shared a clip<\/a> of her singing her 2008 hit Paper Planes. During the song\u2019s chorus, which features the lyrics \u201cwe pack and deliver like UPS trucks, already going to hell, just pumping that gas. All I wanna do is\u2014and a\u2014and take your money\u201d, the singer adds into the microphone: \u201cI\u2019m talking about BP.\u201d<\/p>\n

In text added over the video, the singer writes: \u201cI love the museum and definitely would love for the British government to give them more money directly, without BP having to. It\u2019s 50 million shaved off the war and destruction budget and put towards preservation and culture and education budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

A statement issued by the museum prior to the ball said: \u201cWith the support of the Ball, the museum can do even more to fulfil its ambition of making the collection the most accessible and widely shared in the world.\u201d The statement went on to highlight key initiatives such as working with the Kumasi Palace in Ghana and the History Museum of Armenia.<\/p>\n

The British Museum announced in 2023 that it would receive \u00a350m from BP<\/a> across the following ten years, as part of a masterplan to refurbish and redisplay its permanent collection. Ongoing debate around the controversial<\/a> move comes against the backdrop of new guidance from the Museums Association approved on 7 October, which states that museums should: \u201cTransition away from sponsorship from organisations involved with environmental harm (including fossil fuels), human rights abuses, and other sponsorship that does not align with the values of the museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The British Museum and Reliance were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n