Polluted arts, no thank you!

If you have any spare notes floating about your wallet after having contributed to Just Do It, here’s another crowd funding thing doing the rounds for you to check out too. In 2010 there was a series of performance/interventions that took place in various cultural institutions in London, challenging the undeserved credibility and kudos that polluting, climate-trashing companies like BP get from sponsoring the arts. You may remember that Just Do It came along and filmed one of the performances.

PLATFORM is an arts/activist/education organisation that has been working on the issue of arts and oil sponsorship for some time. Thanks to this series of high profile, creative interventions, there’s a real opportunity now to push oil out of the arts in the same way that tobacco companies were pushed out of the sports world.

In 2011, we want to host a participatory exhibition in a mainstream arts space that brings together artists, activists and the general public. We want to celebrate the dramatic visual aesthetic of the performances that have taken place, make plans for how we move forward on this, and insert the agenda even more into mainstream discussions.

We are hoping to raise about £2,500 in the same way that JDI have been doing – by everyone giving a little bit, and by encouraging people to post our indiegogo page on their facebook, or tweeting about it, or passing the info on to people who might be interested.

Check out our little video presentation that we have made about it all, and on the indiegogo site, in the gallery you will find videos of all the performances archived. As always, it’s not just about the money, it’s about developing a community of interest of people who are motivated to get involved. In particular we are looking to make contacts with people in the art world who are sympathetic to all this, and we especially want to make contact with people who are Tate members, as we will ultimately need to mobilize this sort of people power to make these changes happen.

You might also want to check out the new Liberate Tate blog, with all the performances and press archived, and details of an upcoming planning meeting at the end of the month.

http://just-do-it.org.uk/oil-spill-at-the-british-museum

www.platformlondon.org

http://www.indiegogo.com/LicenceToSpill

http://liberatetate.wordpress.com/

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTCsw0M_yOg


'A Bank for the Future' looks at how RBS could be part of the Green Investment Bank
http://bit.ly/9ofMwz

'LIcence to Spill' looks at how oil companies use arts sponsorship to greenwash destructive practices.
http://bit.ly/cENspW

'Cashing in on Tar Sands' reveals RBS is UK bank most involved in financing loans to tar sands companies.
http://bit.ly/aqi9pQ

PLATFORM London
7 Horselydown Lane
Tower Bridge
London SE1 2LN
England

Tel: +44 (0)20 7403 3738

Email: info@platformlondon.org
Web: http://platformlondon.org
Blog: http://blog.platformlondon.org

PLATFORM is a company limited by guarantee no. 2658515 and a
registered charity no 1044485.