No cans of soup against paintings, but cleaning activists armed with a scrubber and a bucket of soapy water for the Drents Museum. Members of Extinction Rebellion staged a protest at the museum this afternoon. They believe that the Drents Museum should no longer accept oil money from the NAM.
The NAM has been the main sponsor of the Drents Museum for many years. The museum receives money from the company every year. In September, the institution also received half a million from NAM for the renovation of the entrance. Oil money, according to Extinction Rebellion.
“In this way she (Drents Museum, ed.) shows that she is the dirtiest boy in the class and that calls for action”, the activists say. Extinction Rebellion has targeted Shell and ExxonMobil, the owners of the NAM. According to the organization, these two companies have business plans that are in conflict with the Paris Climate Agreement
“We argue that the Drents Museum, as a publicly funded cultural institution, has an exemplary function and should break with these destructive companies. Discussions with the management at the beginning of this year and an artistic action in August have not led to any visible movement at the museum, which is why we continue to campaign to expose her immorality,” Extinction Rebellion said in a statement.
It is not the first action that Extinction Rebellion has carried out at the Drents Museum. In August they performed a performance for the museum and later they also had discussions with the management of the museum. “We also understand their views,” says business director Annelies Meuleman of the Drents Museum. “Like the activists, we are also concerned about the future. It is a broad social discussion. We talk about this internally, also with the NAM and other museums with which we work.”
Nevertheless, the Drents Museum does not want to say goodbye to its main sponsor, who pays an annual amount of 25,000 euros. “These are not earth-shattering amounts. But NAM does more for us. For example, they are now paying 500,000 euros for the renovation of the entrance, they helped make Frida Kahlo’s exhibition possible and they are also participating in the Van Gogh exhibition next year We can do a lot of good with their money.”
The NAM has been a partner of the museum since 1975. “That is also a lasting relationship. Moreover, we would miss the money very much if we no longer received it from NAM. In the North there are very few large companies that enter into such partnerships.”