Polish climate activists are modelling themselves on those in the West. They are still less radical and their actions less spectacular, but it is only a matter of time until they begin to copy the antics of Paris or London one to one. The era of the “Green Khmer” is coming to Poland.
An article by Zuzanna Dąbrowska, published originally on Sovereignty.pl. To read the full version on Sovereignty.pl, please click here.
In the fall of 2022, a series of acts of vandalism in European art galleries caught the attention of the media and the international community. Activists of the “Just stop oil” coalition doused the famous painting of Vincent Van Gogh “Sunflowers”, worth about $100 million, with tomato soup. The perpetrators then taped themselves to the walls of the National Gallery in London. “What is worth more? Art or life? Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Do you care more about protecting a painting or protecting our planet and people? The cost of the living crisis is part of the oil crisis. Fuel is too expensive for millions of hypothermic, starved families. They can’t even heat one can of soup,” one of them exhorted. Fortunately, the artwork was not harmed, as the surface of van Gogh’s painting is protected by a special glass coating (like other painting exhibits on display in the world’s largest galleries).
Another target of attack by climate activists was Dutch painter Jan Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” which is on display at the Maurice House in The Hague. A young man wearing glasses came close to Vermeer’s painting, then leaned his head against it. Another man poured red paint behind his shirt. The boy attached himself to the painting with a strong adhesive. The companion of the “glued” fellow turned to the visitors: “How do you feel, seeing something so beautiful and precious being ruthlessly destroyed?” In this case, as in the London gallery, Police was called to the site, and the vandals were arrested. “We are facing a climate catastrophe, and you are afraid of tomato soup or potatoes in a painting?” – “Just stop oil” activists asked later with indignation. They argue that they are choosing the most famous works of art as the objects of attack in order to arouse worldwide interest. “We are doing this to get media attention. People need to start talking about this. My soup video had 50 million views. People all over the world are talking about it. We need to talk about it and we need to talk about it now,” explained Pheobe, who took part in the action at the National Gallery in London. Among the less spectacular actions in the English capital were the spraying of orange paint on the storefronts of Harrod’s luxury department store and the pelting of a wax statue of Charles III with cake.
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