Tate will come under fire again over its relationship with fossil fuel companies when it is forced to defend its refusal to disclose details of financial payments made to it by BP.
The action on Wednesday, in front of the information tribunal in London, has been brought by the arts group Platform, with support from information rights group Request Initiative, despite the oil company severing its ties with Tate in March this year.
Tate, whose chair of trustees is former BP boss John Browne, has been claiming “commercial confidentiality” for not providing information on how much it received from the oil group between 2007 and 2011.
“As Tate’s deal with BP ends, the oil company can no longer use Tate’s spectacular displays to distract the public from its [environmentally] destructive business,” Platform’s Anna Galkina said. “The public still has a right to know how much BP paid Tate for this transfer of public trust. And the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and Royal Opera House should join Tate in breaking free from oil branding.”
The Tate previously disclosed it received between £150,000 to £330,000 a year between 1990 and 2006 following a previous legal challenge but has declined to reveal more recent sponsorship details.
Fossil fuel companies are under pressure from campaigners and some shareholders because burning oil, coal and gas increase carbon emissions which cause global warming.
