Demonstrations outside the National Gallery Photo: Photo: Philip Wood.
Art world compromised
Links with arms trade compromise the art world
The art world is morally compromised by its links with the arms industry. That was the message from campaigners as the National Gallery came under pressure to end its association with one of the world’s largest arms firms.
Peter Kennard, an artist whose works hang in the Tate, will join with the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) on Saturday 31 March to protest outside the National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square. They believe that most art lovers and tourists are unaware of the gallery’s relationship with Finmeccanica, known for arming the former Gaddafi regime in Libya.
Finmeccanica are one of the corporate benefactors of the National Gallery. Their partnership entitles the company to hold two formal receptions at the gallery every year, along with other commercial benefits.
‘Partnerships with national institutions give arms companies a veneer of legitimacy,’ said CAAT’s Sarah Waldron. She told the Friend: ‘It’s about getting themselves seen as respectable. When they’re all sitting round having their drinks, surrounded by one of the greatest collections of art in the world, they can pretend that what they’re doing is normal.’
The gallery was used in September 2011 to host an evening social event for visitors to the London arms fair. On that occasion, a number of nonviolent activists were removed from the gallery by police after refusing to leave. Eighteen-year-old Quaker Philip Wood, of St Albans Meeting, was the last to be carried out (see ‘Quakers protest at arms fair’, 23 September 2011).
Finmeccanica UK is now Britain’s third largest arms exporter. It is chaired by Kevin Tebbit, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence.
The company have sold drones to Pakistan, helicopters to Turkey for use against Kurdish separatist movements and aircraft to the US and UK armed forces. They supplied Gaddafi with border control and surveillance equipment, as well as military helicopters.
A spokesperson for the National Gallery told the Friend that ‘the corporate membership programme provides a vital source of income which each year helps the National Gallery to fund programmes across all areas of activity.’ She said that the gallery ‘adheres to an ethical policy and the support it receives from the corporate sector is reviewed on a regular basis’.
Sarah Waldron said: ‘The National Gallery have received many letters of protest. Many more would be a very good thing.’
