BAE Systems drops arts festival sponsorship
BAE Systems has pulled out of sponsoring the Great Exhibition of the North 2018
Friends who campaigned against the BAE Systems sponsorship of the Great Exhibition of the North 2018 were celebrating last week as news broke that the weapons manufacturer had pulled out.
The news came after lengthy pressure was placed on the event with several high-profile artists withdrawing from the exhibition due to the controversial sponsorship. The event is to be held in Gateshead, Newcastle and will run from 22 June to 9 September.
More than 2,000 people, including many Quakers, signed an online petition by Art Not Arms, a ‘coalition of artists and cultural workers’ with Quaker links.
The petition called for the Great Exhibition of the North to end its ‘unethical partnership with weapons maker BAE Systems’ and described the latter’s involvement as ‘art-washing on a grand scale’.
Philip Austin, of the Northern Friends Peace Board, told the Friend he was encouraged by the decision: ‘We don’t know what discussions went on behind closed doors, or what motivated them, but we can hope and assume that the public pressure would have made them think twice.’
BAE Systems released a statement saying it would ‘redirect our support to other initiatives’ better suited to its objectives.
Marigold Bentley, head of Peace and Faith Relations at Friends House, welcomed BAE System’s withdrawal from the festival: ‘It is a good example of the power and influence of our wonderful artists in the North. There are many great things about Great Britain but the arms trade is not one of them.’
