'Attacks on art': Museums condemn climate protests

Directors from art institutions worldwide have signed a statement saying environmental activists' recent attacks on art works in museums are putting masterpieces at risk.

The 92 signatories of the statement, published on November 9, include Laurence des Cars, the director of the Musée du Louvre in Paris; Glenn Lowry the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum in London and Miguel Falomir, the director of the Prado in Madrid.

The statement was issued by the National Committee in Germany of the International Council of Museums (Icom) and says: “In recent weeks, there have been several attacks on works of art in international museum collections.

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"The activists responsible for them severely underestimate the fragility of these irreplaceable objects, which must be preserved as part of our world cultural heritage. As museum directors entrusted with the care of these works, we have been deeply shaken by their risky endangerment."

Environmental groups, such as Just Stop Oil and Letzte Generation (Last Generation), have been staging demonstrations at museums and galleries during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop27, held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh.

Activists from Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s glass-covered Sunflowers On October 14 at the National Gallery in London, demanding that the British government “halts all new oil and gas projects”.

On October 23, activists from Letzte Generation (Last Generation) splashed mashed potatoes on Claude Monet’s most expensive painting  - worth $111 million - Les Meules (Haystacks) in the Museum Barberini in Germany.

The statement said that the signatories will continue to maintain museums as free spaces for communication and access to cultural heritage.

Activists say that the point is to get attention and to illustrate people's complacent attitudes.

“What is worth more, art or life?” one of the activists shouted at the National Gallery in London.

"Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet?”

But critics say damaging historical art pieces is different from how to get the message across.