Climate-friendly turn for National Galleries of Scotland: partnership with BP ends

The National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland’s premier museum, has announced that it has ended its partnership with British Petroleum (BP) because of the museum’s concerns about climate change. As a result, the 2019 BP Portrait Award exhibition (the world’s largest award reserved for portraiture, held annually by the National Portrait Gallery in London and funded by BP, who then take the exhibition on the road) opening December 7 will be the last one sponsored by the oil giant.

Laconic but very clear is the institution’s statement, which reads, “At the National Galleries of Scotland we recognize that we have a responsibility to do as much as possible to address the climate emergency. For many, the association of the competition with BP is not considered compatible with this goal. So, after due consideration, the Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland have decided that this will be the last time the gallery will host the exhibition in its current form. The exhibition has been very popular, having attracted many new and returning visitors in past years. We are grateful to the National Portrait Gallery in London and BP for the opportunity the competition and exhibition have provided to inspire young talent and to promote portraiture around the world.”

The National Galleries of Scotland thus joins an already long list of British institutions that have severed ties with BP (in past years the same decision had been matured, for example, by the Tate and the Edinburgh International Festival). The museums that have not yet done so continue to be the subject of protests: the most striking, as we had also reported on these pages, certainly are those held at the British Museum.

The latest institution to cut ties with BP was the Royal Shakespeare Company, last October, and it had received in return a piqued response from the company, which described itself as “disappointed and upset” by the company’s decision. “Our support for the arts in the UK,” BP had said in a note, “has provided access to world-class events to millions of people over the past fifty years. This is all part of our commitment to provide spillovers to the communities where we live and work. We are dismayed because we share many of the concerns that apparently contributed to the decision. We recognize that the world is on an unsustainable path [...] and the debate is centered on how to deal with this in the context of a world where energy demand is growing [...]. Ironically, the increasing polarization of the debate, and attempts to exclude companies that are committed to making real progress, is exactly what is not needed. This global challenge requires everyone (companies, governments and individuals) to work together to achieve a low-carbon future.”

Pictured: the headquarters of the Scottish National Gallery, part of the National Galleries of Scotland. Ph. Credit Maciek Szczepaniak

Climate-friendly turn for National Galleries of Scotland: partnership with BP ends

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