Vancouver Climate Protesters made the protest action cross European borders. On Saturday afternoon, two women threw maple syrup at a painting by Emily Carr. Evidently, they are members of the Stop Fracking Around.
“We are in a climate emergency” – Vancouver Climate Protesters
A recent series of attacks on art by climate protesters made headlines all over Europe. This might no longer be the situation. The incident occurred at the Vancouver Art Gallery in Canada.
Two Vancouver climate protesters poured maple syrup on Stumps and Sky, a painting by Canadian artist Emily Carr. They also glued themselves to the wall underneath. Also, the third accomplice filmed them.
“We are in a climate emergency”, Erin Fletcher, one of the protesters, said in a press release. “We are taking this action following Remembrance Day to remind ourselves of the countless deaths that took place. It will continue to take place, due to the greed, corruption and incompetence of our leaders.”
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterDon Marshall, speaking for the environmental group, said the protest action at the museum aims to focus public attention on the global climate emergency. He said the protesters are demanding an end to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project. The project is currently under construction from Dawson Creek to Kitimat on B.C.’s north coast.
Carr’s painting Stumps and Sky could be interpreted as a debate on the use of old-growth forests for commercial purposes. Also, the painting has some resemblance to current environmental concerns.
“The Vancouver Art Gallery condemns acts of vandalism toward the works of cultural significance in our care, or in any museum”, said the museum’s director, Anthony Kiendl, in a statement.
“The government is building fossil fuel infrastructure” – Fletcher
Stumps and Sky (1934), a landscape painting, do not have any permanent damage, the gallery confirmed. It stated that although collaborating with the authorities to investigate the incident, no arrests have been made.
As said, Vancouver climate protesters are advocating for the closure of the British Columbia pipeline project. The project name is Coastal GasLink. Also, it crosses multiple unceded traditional lands of First Nations people. This includes Wet’suwet’en territory.
“I think any amount of publicity we can get as an organization is worth it, because the climate crisis is the most pressing crisis of our time”, one of the protestors, Emily Kelsall said. Fletcher said “when we go over two degrees Celsius increase in global average temperatures, we are looking at death and starvation.”
She also added that the government is building fossil fuel infrastructure, instead of acting responsibly. “They’re doing the exact opposite of what science and ethics is saying we need to be doing”, she stated.
The escalation of attacks started with climate activists associated with the Just Stop Oil group. They threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, at the National Gallery in London on October 14. Museums are ramping up their security in order to minimize this growing threat to their collections.
