On Saturday, two climate activists attacked an Emily Carr painting in the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Two activists are seen in a video dousing a painting with an unidentified liquid, which the account Stop Fracking Around on Twitter claims to be maple syrup, in a social media post.
The two activists then apparently glue themselves to the wall underneath the painting.
One of the activists claims in the video that the incident is a protest against the Coastal GasLink Pipeline and calls for the pipeline’s construction to be stopped.
“Stop Fracking Around,” we declare. We are here to speak out, and we won’t be silent,” one of the activists declared.
“We demand that the government stop construction on the Coastal GasLink Pipeline, stop building infrastructure related to fossil fuels, and stop building the Trans Mountain pipeline.
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“The Vancouver Art Gallery condemns acts of vandalism towards the works of cultural significance in our care, or in any museum,” said Anthony Kiendle, CEO and director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. “The Vancouver Art Gallery has confirmed two individuals were able to vandalise Emily Carr’s painting Stumps and Sky.”
“Creating safer spaces for communication and ideas is a key component of our mission. We are a non-profit organisation that serves as a place of memory and care for upcoming generations.
We do support the free expression of ideas, but not at the expense of stifling the creative expressions and ideas of others or in any other way restricting access to those ideas.
The gallery staff is confident that the artwork won’t be permanently harmed.
Climate protests targeting famous paintings have been in the news lately as two women were charged with criminal damage after vandalizing a painting in London last month.
Late in October, in yet another food-related demonstration, environmentalists threw mashed potatoes at a $107.7 million Claude Monet painting housed in a German museum.
Online, these protests have faced fierce opposition, with even members of the climate-conscious community objecting to the targeting of art.
A Stop Fracking Around spokesperson said they understand the frustrations and that they feel like this is one of their only outlets to be heard.
Don Marshall, a representative for Stop Fracking Around, characterised this action as one of desperation.
“Activists have discovered no other means to genuinely make a difference than this. Please protest in a different way, those who ask you to.
Marshall claimed that the two activists had been removed from the wall, but there are currently few details available.
Vancouver police have also confirmed two women entered the art gallery and did put maple syrup on a painting.
The two were not detained, but police said they think they know who they are and are looking into them.
Environmentalists spray maple syrup on an Emily Carr painting at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
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