Explained: Why are climate activists gluing themselves to historic paintings?
Climate activists across the world and specifically in Europe are indulging in what looks like an organised attack on some of the world’s most historic paintings. They are gluing themselves to these paintings in protest.
Hyderabad: Individuals who are concerned about the earth’s well-being affected by the climate crisis are taking an out-of-the-box approach to warn and grab the attention of the powers that be.
Climate activists across the world and specifically in Europe are indulging in what looks like an organised attack on some of the world’s most historic paintings. They are gluing themselves to these paintings in protest.
It all started in May 2022 when a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair threw cake on Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting, Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum.
A few weeks later, two climate protesters glued their hands to a Vincent van Gogh painting of a bucolic countryside in Arles, France. And then, some others stuck themselves to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera which is on display at an art gallery in Florence.
In October, two other climate activists glued their hands to a $179 million Picasso painting at a Melbourne Gallery. A banner they held read “Climate Chaos = War and Famine.”
Earlier this week, Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl With A Pearl Earring” was targeted by environmental activists as a man appeared to attempt to glue his bald head to the 357-year-old painting.
In other incidents, protestors threw a can of tomato soup at a painting by Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting in London and mashed potatoes at a different painting.
The series of attempts targeting the priceless artworks are said to have only one goal – to bring attention to climate change.
According to the videos, the man who poured tomato soup said, “How do you feel when you see something beautiful, a priceless thing apparently destroyed before your eyes? Do you feel outraged? Where is that feeling when you see the planet being destroyed?”
Just Stop Oil, an environmental activist group based in the United Kingdom is at the forefront of these attacks that they call Non-Violent Direct Action. The group is active on social media platforms and urges everyone to join their movement.
Talking about why the climate activists are targeting artworks in one of their Q and A styled blog, they wrote, “Yes – art is precious. We share that love deeply. What we want to do is salvage a future where human creativity is still possible. We’re terrifyingly close to losing that, so we have to break the rules. And that means pushing cultural buttons to provoke, challenge and shock. There’s no other way.”
