Just Stop Oil Activist Group and Van Gogh
By: Shiwani Tamaskar
On October 14, 2022, two climate activists threw soup on a Van Gogh painting at the National Gallery in London. Part of the environmental activist group Just Stop Oil in the UK, they shouted, “The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis, fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup” after gluing their hands to the wall around the painting. While no damage was done to the Van Gogh painting, the video went viral across many social media platforms. Tik Tok videos gained millions of views and likes. Additionally thousands of comments, raising questions about the actions including the relevance, if it was necessary. The climate group received criticism for targeting paintings for something that to many people seemed completely unrelated. However, this attraction is exactly what the climate activists had aimed to do. The interest in the viral videos and tweets, started questions and conversations surrounding the Just Stop Oil organization as well as the questions they were raising.
This particular action was in response to fossil fuel extraction licensed by the former UK prime minister Liz Truss. According to the Finnish power firm Wärtsilä Energy, the UK has allocated 158 million dollars in stimulus commitments towards renewable energy and 5 billion dollars towards fossil fuels. The report also stated that additional stimulus commitments put towards renewable energy will garner private investment. Meaning the UK government could get 16.5 billion in investment money by putting the 5 billion fossil fuel generation towards renewables. These additional investments would create a 60% renewable energy system, delivering a 58% lower carbon emissions.
While tomato soup, Van Gogh, and fossil fuels seem to have nothing in common, the unusual and abrupt disruption in the National Gallery garnered a great deal of attention allowing conversations regarding the decisions of the UK government and what they would do to our environment.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/01/down-to-earth-just-stop-oil-protest
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/1129098184/van-gogh-sunflowers-soup-climate-protest-london-gallery