After revelations that oil giant Shell put pressure on the Science Museum to change their climate change exhibition, Alistair Brown asks where the line should be drawn with commercial sponsorship and the arts.
Public trust. It’s hard won and easily lost. That’s why this week’s headlines about the Science Museum’s close relationship with Shell should have us worried.
The story – in which emails between the Science Museum and Shell were released under a Freedom of Information request – is far from the first to concern sponsorship deals between museums and major energy companies. But this one feels a bit different.
It seems to me that while many might not object to oil money funding oil paintings, the museum-going public will wonder whether it is acceptable for a company like Shell to have such a direct link to the funding of a gallery on climate change.
The obvious concerns about the apparent conflict of interest seem to be borne out by the emails themselves, which tend towards a tone of friendly cooperation between museum and oil company... Keep reading on Museums Association
Public trust. It’s hard won and easily lost. That’s why this week’s headlines about the Science Museum’s close relationship with Shell should have us worried.
The story – in which emails between the Science Museum and Shell were released under a Freedom of Information request – is far from the first to concern sponsorship deals between museums and major energy companies. But this one feels a bit different.
It seems to me that while many might not object to oil money funding oil paintings, the museum-going public will wonder whether it is acceptable for a company like Shell to have such a direct link to the funding of a gallery on climate change.
The obvious concerns about the apparent conflict of interest seem to be borne out by the emails themselves, which tend towards a tone of friendly cooperation between museum and oil company... Keep reading on Museums Association