Activists pour oil and blood on the floor of the Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts | Abroad

Activists have expressed their outrage that the museum is sponsored by a company of dubious reputation towards them. “French oil giant Total Energies has been convicted multiple times in recent decades for corruption, pollution and human rights violations. Total is deliberately withholding climate goals and making excess profits from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he plays.

Activists gathered around the picture in the KMSKA Job’s misery by Ossip Zadkine. They cried one after another and poured fake oil and fake blood on the snow-white plastered floor. Walls and artwork have not been touched.

Down the corridor, other concerned museum visitors, meanwhile, showed up as a cleaning crew. They have offered to clean the floor, symbolically purging their museum of total pollution. Visitors to the museum were informed of the reason for the protest with leaflets.

The KMSKA operates according to the statutes of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). ICOM’s charter states that museums should consider whether it is acceptable to accept money from controversial companies, such as arms manufacturers or fossil fuel producers. “KMSKA’s decision to partner with a company that puts profit above human rights and the well-being of the planet goes against that,” the activists say.

They demand that KMSKA stop its cooperation with Total. Otherwise it will continue to supply Total with a billboard to clean up its reputation. They also fear that the museum will be muzzled for money. After all, an endorsement deal traditionally contains a loyalty clause. This states that the recipient of sponsorship money may not do or say anything that is against the sponsor’s best interests. According to activists, the fact that the contract between KMSKA and Total has not been made public is the worst thing.

KMSKA regrets the action but refrains from comment at this time. “We await the police investigation,” says communications officer Lore Jans.