Photo: Facebook / Ultima Generazione
Surprising no one, the final bill for the recent attacks by eco-activists will eventually be picked up by the likes of you and me. In light of yet another incident involving a priceless Andy Warhol art work, a BMW M1 Art Car, Italy will be seeking extra protection measures.
In recent months, various activist groups have been engaging in something they like to call nonviolent civil disobedience acts, targeting artworks on display and vandalizing them to get attention. Whether these artworks are paintings, sculptures or cars doesn’t even matter, since the goal is to do something outrageous to get attention and, once attention is obtained, to ask for urgent action to tackle the issue of climate change.
The latest incident of the type took place on November 18 in Milan, Italy, when an invaluable, one-off Andy Warhol BMW M1 Art Car was doused in flour by activists asking for the closure of coal mines and more concrete measures to reduce carbon emissions. They argued that it was ridiculous to feel outrage at what they did to the car, when the future of our children was no longer guaranteed.
In response, the Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano is saying that museums are now forced to take extra measures to prevent these attacks, which will include a protective layer of glass over the works. In a letter to publication ADN Kronos, he calls the attacks “senseless and gratuitous violence” that targets the cultural heritage, which calls for immediate counter-measures. Guess who’ll be paying the bill for those?
“Considering the huge heritage to be protected, consequently the intervention will represent a considerable cost for the coffers of the ministry and of the entire nation and which, unfortunately, can only foresee an increase in the cost of the entrance ticket,” Sangiuliano. “Once again, the outrage of a few violent people risks falling on the Italians and, in particular, on those who want to go and see a good exhibition.”
This is what critics of this type of eco-activism have been saying all along: whereas attacks of this kind do get attention, they don’t get the attention of the people who matter. Even worse, they will eventually do damage to communities not in the least connected to the issue of climate change.
The latest incident of the type took place on November 18 in Milan, Italy, when an invaluable, one-off Andy Warhol BMW M1 Art Car was doused in flour by activists asking for the closure of coal mines and more concrete measures to reduce carbon emissions. They argued that it was ridiculous to feel outrage at what they did to the car, when the future of our children was no longer guaranteed.
In response, the Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano is saying that museums are now forced to take extra measures to prevent these attacks, which will include a protective layer of glass over the works. In a letter to publication ADN Kronos, he calls the attacks “senseless and gratuitous violence” that targets the cultural heritage, which calls for immediate counter-measures. Guess who’ll be paying the bill for those?
“Considering the huge heritage to be protected, consequently the intervention will represent a considerable cost for the coffers of the ministry and of the entire nation and which, unfortunately, can only foresee an increase in the cost of the entrance ticket,” Sangiuliano. “Once again, the outrage of a few violent people risks falling on the Italians and, in particular, on those who want to go and see a good exhibition.”
This is what critics of this type of eco-activism have been saying all along: whereas attacks of this kind do get attention, they don’t get the attention of the people who matter. Even worse, they will eventually do damage to communities not in the least connected to the issue of climate change.
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