BP maintains sponsorship of the arts
December 19 2011
Picture: Telegraph. A protest against BP seemingly allowed in Tate Britain earlier this year.
Good news for the arts in Britain - BP will continue its support for the British Museum, Tate Britain, The Royal Opera House and the National Portrait Gallery with £10m over the next five years. This comes despite the curious news last week that the Tate was 'reviewing' whether it should deign to accept the cash. From Tuesday's Guardian:
Tate's director, Sir Nicholas Serota, has said it will decide whether to renew the contract with BP "quite soon". This month he was presented with a petition from 8,000 Tate members and visitors organised by the pressure groups Platform, Liberate Tate and Art Not Oil. Serota said: "You'll not be surprised to learn that the whole question of the support from BP has exercised trustees quite seriously over the past two years. Both the trustees as a board, but also the trustees through their ethics committee, which was instituted about four years ago, have looked very carefully at the question."
The phrase 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth springs to mind' here, especially in these austere times...
