Just Stop Oilan extremist organization of young British environmentalists, has claimed responsibility for the attack carried out by two girls at the National Gallery in London.
Two girls this Friday threw the contents of two cans of tomato soup on the box of Vincent van Gogh‘Los Girasoles’, which is exhibited almost permanently in room 43 of that gallery
The attack against the painting by the impressionist artist, one of the most iconic paintings in history, was recorded from cell phones by visitors and members of the group of environmentalists in different videos that were posted on social networks.
One of the activists, with the voice of a hysterical schoolgirl, inflamed by the act that will surely cost her, questions the order of values of the authorities, the established elite and contemporary society.
“What is worth more? Art or life? Is art worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and the population? short dyed pink, to the visitors who were in the room.
The museum assured that the famous painting It did not suffer any damage, although the liquid thrown by the environmentalists did cause damage to the frame.
The members of Just Oil were apparently aware that this Van Gogh painting, valued at over 80 million euros, is protected by glass.
After smearing the work with soup, they uncovered tubes of glue that they hid under their clothes, they sprinkled the contents on the palm of one hand and stuck them to the wall of the room.
In the recording, the security guard of the space is heard asking for reinforcements to the cry of “security”.
Both environmental activists, aged 21 and 20, were arrested by Scotland Yard agents for “criminal damage” and “property violation”.
According to the report of the correspondent of the newspaper El Mundo, from Spain, the painting is one of the five versions of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers exhibited throughout the world.
Three months ago members of the same group pasted paper over ‘The Hay Wain’, by John Constable, in the same gallery.
Motives and concerns of environmentalists
The Just Stop Oil mobilization campaign has been protesting for two weeks. The same near the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as in other places in the capital of Great Britain.
More than a hundred people have been arrested in the framework of these mobilizations.
Environmental activists criticize the Prime Minister’s decision Liz Truss of the lifting of a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the United Kingdom.
In addition to allowing the extraction of fossil fuels, which was until now prohibited in the country, Truss also announced an increase in licenses for the extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea, as part of his measures.
“Cost of living crisis stems from fossil fuels, daily life has become unaffordable for millions of families who are cold and hungry, they cannot afford even a can of soup,” said Phoebe Plummer, the 21-year-old activist quoted in a statement from the group.
“At the same time,” “people are dying” from “fires and droughts caused by climate change,” he argued, and “we can’t afford new oil and gas projects.”
