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On anniversary of heist, Gardner Museum shut doors over possible climate protest
By adamg on Sat, 03/18/2023 - 10:10pm
WBZ reports officials at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum shut the museum today, the 33rd anniversary of the infamous painting robbery after learning climate activists planned to use the occasion and the museum to promote their cause - and the fear something could happen to damage the remaining artwork.
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Comments
Only one group is this stupid
Had to be the fine folks at extinction rebellion.
I normally
support climate activists but this was poorly thought out. This day is like the anniversary of a death for some of the people at ISG. Really lame. Let them be, find some less obnoxious way to make your splashy points, attention seekers.
Weird choice of venue and timing for that particular
protest. I'm with them philosophically, and doubt they would have damaged any art as suggested by the organizers as the reason to reschedule the event. But surely there's a better place and time for that message, especially given that that institution and crowd, like me, is likely otherwise on their side. It's not that hard: go protest at a big private equity firm or wealth management advisor that invests in extraction industries instead of ruining an ally's party.
Gardner is right to be very concerned
These 'protests' are getting to the point of smashing glass and spray-painting:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/climate-activists-this-is-rigged-willi...
I wonder if the planned
I wonder if the planned protest was similar to the ones in Europe last year where people threw soup and mashed potatoes at Van Gogh and Monet paintings. I also kind of wonder if those protests were actually carried out by the oil industry to make climate activists look bad, because they were so asinine, but that's another story.
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/26/1131377513/museum-protests-famous-artwork...
Me too...
I wondered about the same possibility.
I don't know about climate groups
but there's at least one group, in "animal rights", that has to be a right wing front. I don't think I need mention the name.
The facts are pretty simple.
The facts are pretty simple. Similar protests resulted in people throwing food and other items all over art in Europe. This was the anniversary of this musuem loosing 500 million dollars worth of art in a heist that they still mourne.
The organizers are now complaining about the closure and saying they weren't going to do anything that would cause any harm BUT they picked a very sensitive day. Either they did it out of ignorance for what that day means or they picked it because of the day it was. Either way it shows that the musuem made the right choice.
Things like this does not lead to more people taking your side. Even people who agree with their message get disgusted by their tactics.
Nope, they were totally aware
Check out the Boston.com article. There's a truly insane quote from one of the organizers whining about how people are still talking about the Gardner heist, but "nobody" is talking about species extinction.
If they really wanted to do something useful
They'd protest in the nation responsible for one-third of global CO2 emissions.
Solidifying public memory
Any time climate agitprop occurs at a museum, it will solidify public memory that the activists are about damaging art, not saving the world. If I were a coal baron, I couldn't think of a better way to undermine climate activism.