Photos: Activists target art treasures to draw attention to climate change
Updated On Dec 08, 2022 08:04 PM IST
Climate activists have staged high-profile protests in recent months, sometimes targeting museums and artworks to call for tougher action to tackle global warming. Though these protests vandalising celebrated artworks have received a mixed reaction from people and art lovers from across the globe, the activists feel they have been successful in engaging people on issues like rising temperatures, famines, and extinction. Here is a look at some of the protests in recent months.
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Environmental activists from the "Last Generation" (Ultima Generazione) group smear with paint the facade of the prestigious La Scala theatre ahead of the opening performance of the season, in Milan, Italy, on December 7. "We decided to stain La Scala with paint to ask the politicians who will attend the performance tonight to pull their heads out of the sand and intervene to save the population," wrote Last Generation in a statement, as reported by AFP.(Piero Cruciatti / AFP)
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Activists of "Just Stop Oil" glue their hands to the wall after throwing soup at Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers" at the National Gallery in London, Britain on October 14. The two women. 20 and 21, were arrested and charged with criminal damage for throwing soup at the painting but were later released on bail.(Just Stop Oil / REUTERS)
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Last Generation activists seen glued underneath the painting "Les Meules" by French artist Claude Monet after throwing mashed potatoes on the artwork in the Barberini museum in Potsdam, Germany on October 23. "How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless apparently being destroyed before your eyes?" asked one of the protesters from Just Stop Oil after gluing themselves to the glass protecting a Vermeer painting in the Netherlands. "Do you feel outraged? Good. Where is that feeling when you see the planet being destroyed?" (Last Generation / AFP)
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Climate activists of the "Last Generation" group pour a black liquid on the painting "Death and Life" by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria on November 15.(Last Generation Austria / AFP)
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Climate activists from Last Generation pose next to "The Sower", an 1888 painting by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, after they threw pea soup at it, in Palazzo Bonaparte, Rome on November 4. (ANSA / AFP)
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A climate activist with his hand glued to the perspex covering of Picasso's anti-war painting "Massacre in Korea" at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on October 9. Climate activists who have been targeting iconic artworks to demand an end to new gas and oil extraction projects have received mixed public reactions.(Matt Hrkac / Extinction Rebellion / AFP)
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A person removes glue from the hand of a "Last Generation" activist during a protest outside state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) building after activists of the group poured paint on the building in Rome, Italy, on November 16. In an unrepresentative poll by Deutsche Welle, Twitter followers were asked how they felt about acts of civil disobedience like the Monet mashed potato incident. Of the 491 people who answered, 22% said they raised awareness and helped. But 56% said such acts hurt the climate movement.(Remo Casilli / REUTERS)
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Climate activists of 'Futuro Vegetal' pose after throwing syrup and beetroot juice to resemble petrol and blood at the Egyptian Museum in Barcelona, Spain on November 13.(Futuro Vegetal / REUTERS )
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Climate activists of “Last Generation” throw flour on Andy Warhol's work, in Milan, Italy, on November 18. As the activists were led away by security officials, one of them shouted: “My daughters, my students will soon be in danger from droughts, famines, and migrations caused by climate change,” reported AFP.(Flavio Lo Scalzo / REUTERS)
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