BP PLEDGES OVER $15 MILLION TO BRITISH CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

BP has stated that it will pledge over $15 million to sponsor the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, and Tate Britain over the next five years. Earlier this year, a public petition with 8,000 signatures was given to the Tate asking them to end their sponsorship program with the oil company in light of the environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota told the BBC that the Tate has been “thinking very hard” about the sponsorship. “The board . . . thought it was the right thing to continue with BP,” he told the BBC, adding, “BP have been great supporters of the arts in this country. The fact that they had one major incident in 2010 does not mean we should not be taking support from them.”

The British Museum’s director Neil MacGregor explained it another way, saying that thanks to BP’s support, “well over one million visitors to the British Museum have been able to get close to Michelangelo, discover the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, experience Chinese New Year, and understand Ancient Persia.”