BP to End Sponsorship of Tate Museums

Visitors pausing inside the Tate Modern in London. BP’s sponsorship of the Tate museums dates from 1990. Credit Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

LONDON — BP has decided to end its 26-year sponsorship of the Tate group of art museums, one of Britain’s most high-profile cultural institutions, the energy giant and Tate said on Friday.

The sponsorship has been the target of protesters for years, including after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 when activists poured a slick substance on the steps of Tate Britain, but a BP spokesman said the oil company was ending the arrangement purely for financial reasons.

The spokesman, David Nicholas, said it was “a commercial decision” prompted by the collapse in oil prices which has led to a decline in BP’s profit since the summer of 2014. Last month, BP reported a $6.5 billion loss for 2015.

Mr. Nicholas said that at a time when BP was cutting thousands of jobs and slashing investment, “our arts sponsorship program does not have an exemption.”

Activists who have protested the funding described the decision as a major victory that could pressure other cultural institutions to end their corporate ties.

“We’re thrilled with the news Tate is rid of BP,” Yasmin de Silva, a member of one of the protest group Liberate Tate, said in a statement. “About 30 years ago, the tide turned on tobacco sponsorship, and now the same thing is happening to the oil industry.”

BP’s sponsorship of Tate dates from 1990. It has largely focused on Tate Britain, the museum in the Pimlico area of London that houses work by British artists like J.M.W. Turner and William Blake.

The oil company sponsors the display of Tate Britain’s permanent collection as well as special features like a branded “BP Walk through British Art” in the museum’s galleries.

At first glance, the loss of BP’s existing contribution, which was reported in January 2015 to be about 224,000 pounds, or nearly $319,000, a year over 17 years, may not seem like a major loss to a museum with an operating income of £92 million. But the decision to halt the sponsorship comes as government funding for cultural institutions, which accounts for about one-third of Tate’s income, is under pressure in Britain.

“The BP/Tate partnership has been an outstanding example of patronage and collaboration over nearly 30 years,” the museum said in a statement on Friday.

Tate’s other institutions in England include Tate Modern on the south bank of the Thames in London and museums in Liverpool and Cornwall.

Tate is one of four major British cultural institutions with longstanding funding arrangements from BP. The oil company also contributes to the Royal Opera House, British Museum and National Portrait Gallery. In 2011, BP said it would spend a total of £10 million on the four institutions over the following five years.

Mr. Nicolas, the spokesman, said that BP had no plans to stop sponsoring the other institutions, adding that the Tate deal was the first to come up for renewal. The flow of BP support to Tate is to end in the first quarter of next year, when the arrangement expires.

The protests against BP’s relationship with Tate have also included a legal action to compel the museum to reveal the amount of the sponsorship, a demonstration at Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, and a brief occupation of part of Tate Britain in November in which activists tattooed environmental messages on one another.

In a telephone interview, Mel Evans, a member of Liberate Tate, said she hoped that other institutions would end their relationships with BP and other oil companies.

“We think it’s important that art space is protected for the public and not co-opted by an oil company,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/business/energy-environment/bp-to-end-sponsorship-of-tate-museums.html?_r=0