‘Sunflowers’, the world famous painting by Vincent van Gogh, was the target of a climate action in the National Gallery in London on Friday. Two activists from environmental group Just Stop Oil daubed the artwork with Heinz tomato soup as a protest against the extraction of fossil fuels. We already know Just Stop Oil from previous campaigns and these two activists are not new faces either.
It is about two British young adults: Phoebe Plummer (21) from London and Anna Holland (20) from Newcastle.
Plummer is a graduate of the University of Manchester and has been featured in previous Just stop Oil campaigns. The activist was part of several demonstrations where participants glued themselves to streets by hand to block traffic. For example, on October 6, Plummer was ‘released’ from the street surface by the police during an action in Trafalgar Square in London.
Phoebe Plummer goes on Twitter by the name Ziggy Stardyke and regularly retweets images of the actions.
The other ‘soup thrower’ Anna Holland, a student at Newcastle University, was also part of previous Just Stop Oil campaigns. She was one of the activists blocking Parliamant Square in London in early October. There she insisted that they are not criminals, but also that she is not afraid of a criminal record, because if she does not take “peaceful action to demand change”, she sees no future for her generation.
On Friday, the young women attracted worldwide attention with their latest campaign. In the National Gallery in London, they emptied a can of soup over Vincent van Gogh’s world-famous painting ‘Sunflowers’. Then the duo glued themselves to the wall with one hand.
With their action, they wanted to protest against climate change and the increased cost of living. One of them shouted “Which is worth more, art or life?”, as can be seen in a video of the action that appeared on social media.
Van Gogh painted the work in 1888. Because there was a glass plate in front of it, it was not damaged by the action. The frame has suffered some damage.
The women were arrested by the police. They were charged with vandalism and released on bail on Saturday. Pending their trial on December 13, they are not allowed to visit museums or art galleries or carry paint or glue in public places, the British judge ruled.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.