SHELL DITCHED AS SPONSOR OF TOP WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER EXHIBITION IN FACE OF WIDESPREAD PROTEST

Rising Tide Press Release, 27.1.08Contact: info@artnotoil.org.uk, 07708 794665 Shell's two year tenure as sponsor of the Natural History Museum's'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' exhibition has come to an end. Adetermined, creative two year national campaign, coordinated in part by the direct action group Rising Tide and its Art Not Oil (1) offshoot,helped to force the NHM to ditch Shell.Using a combination of creative direct action (2) and a 'Shell's Wild Lie'exhibition (3), Rising Tide has been pressurising the Museum and partner BBC Wildlife magazine to acknowledge that one of the world's largest oilcompanies is not a good sponsor for an exhibition that has become apowerful testament to the beauty, diversity and fragility of the natural world.(4)This campaign, and the significant public pressure it mobilised, has nowpaid off.London Rising Tide's Chris Hyde said: 'We are delighted that the NaturalHistory Museum has seen sense and bid farewell to Shell in what must rank as the most absurd and appalling sponsorship deal ever seen. Now it's timefor the Museum to turn down cash from climate-destroying companies likeBP, BA and Shell (5), and for cultural institutions across London and the UK to do the same.''The oil industry is destroying our future, as well as the habitats andlives of countless living beings right now throughout the world. For thatreason, and because this victory has shown what climatically conscious grassroots art can achieve, we will be keeping up the pressure with ourArt Not Oil campaign.'[Ends]Contact: info@artnotoil.org.uk, 07708 794665 Notes to editors: 1) Now in its fifth year, Art Not Oil stands for 'creativity, climatejustice and an end to oil industry sponsorship of arts and culture'. Ithas acted as a beacon for artists worldwide who are committed to using their creativity positively, and is a hub for protest against the oilindustry greenwashing its image by appropriating UK cultural institutions.Its 2008 online gallery is now open for submissions: www.artnotoil.org,uk 2) Over the past year sponsorship-related protests have taken place at thefollowing places; (print quality copies of the photos below are availableon request):Natural History Museum, October 2007: http://risingtide.org.uk/node/231 and January 2008:http://www.planestupid.com/?q=content/march-penguins-climate-activists-protest-british-airways-ice-rink BBC Wildlife Magazine HQ, Bristol, December 2007:http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=27160Bristol Museum, December 2007: http://onthelevelblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/direct-action-in-bristol-reveals-shells-greenwash/ Tate Britain, January 2008: http://www.londonrisingtide.org.uk/node/4093) The 'Shell's Wild Lie' exhibition will tour the UK and Europe through 2008 and beyond. http://www.artnotoil.org.uk/gallery/v/Shell/4) 'Shell: the evidence': http://www.artnotoil.org.uk//content/view/23/2/ 5) Both Shell and BP are Corporate Members of the NHM, donating £25,000 ormore per year, while BA gives £10,000 per year. Current PrimeMinister-appointed NHM Trustees include Louise Charlton of BrunswickGroup, the public relations firm contracted in 2004 by Shell to carry out PR damage limitation in the wake of its reserves-reporting scandal, andSir William Castell, non-executive director of BP. Conflicts of interestlike these are rife right across the UK's leading cultural institutions. 6) Friends of the Earth has also been running a campaign against the Shelldeal:http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/press_for_change/wildlife_photographer/index.html