Police have charged a woman who defaced an Australian masterpiece in protest against Woodside Energy.
A video released by activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Thursday showed a woman spraypainting a Woodside logo on Frederick McCubbin’s Down on his luck, at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. She then appeared to glue her hand to the wall, while a man unfurled an Aboriginal flag, made an acknowledgment of country, and spoke about Woodside’s “ongoing desecration of sacred Murujuga rock art”.
Woodside is expanding its operations on the Burrup peninsula, in WA’s Pilbara region. The peninsula, known as Murujuga to the traditional owners, has the largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs (rock carvings) in the world.
Woodside’s industrial developments include fertiliser and gas plants, and planned expansions require the petroglyphs to be moved.
The 1889 McCubbin oil on canvas, valued at $3m a decade ago, was protected by Perspex.
“This painting is barely 100 years old,” the man said.
“We have 50,000-year-old artwork that Woodside is destroying. Cultural artwork that is sacred to our people is being destroyed.”
Police said on Friday a Northbridge woman, 37, had been charged with one count of criminal damage. She is due to appear in Perth magistrates court on 16 February.
Disrupt Burrup Hub has started a fundraiser for fines, legal fees and action costs, and said all industry on the Burrup should be stopped.
“Woodside like to slap their logo on everything while they spray their toxic emissions all over sacred rock art,” the group said.
The Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper, a former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation who is now with the Save Our Songlines campaign, said the protest was “very courageous”.
“Some people were asking why can’t they leave the art alone,” she said.
“That’s exactly how we feel about what Woodside is doing to our rock art, and our sacred songlines and the plants and animals on the Burrup.
“Murujuga holds the stories and songlines of our people going back more than 50,000 years. Woodside need to stop destroying our art.”
A Woodside spokesperson said the company respected people’s rights to protest peacefully and lawfully.
“Woodside has a proven, more than 35-year, track record of safe, reliable and sustainable operations on Murujuga, delivering natural gas to customers in WA and around the world,” she said.
“Our environmental approach complies with all applicable environmental laws and regulations and is underpinned by robust science-based decisions.”
The company said peer-reviewed research had not identified any impacts on Murujuga rock art from industrial emissions associated with liquefied natural gas production.
Prof Benjamin Smith, University of WA chair of world rock art, said it was clear that industrial pollution was eroding the petroglyphs on the peninsula.
“It has been shown without any doubt that nitrogen oxide pollution, combined with local rain and dew, is causing serious damage to Murujuga rock art,” he said.
“Woodside is the largest nitrogen oxide emitter by far at Murujuga.
“We don’t need to fingerprint the source to know that Woodside’s nitrogen oxide and other forms of acidic pollution are damaging the rock art and that these emissions are a serious problem that needs urgent intervention.”
