Today, on Friday, October 11 at 6:45 pm, about twenty Extinction Rebellion rebels blocked access to the museum for the board members of the Rijksmuseum and ING. Rebels smeared with yellow paint prevent entry with an ‘art wash street’. The management wanted to dine together under the Night Watch. The rebels demand that the Rijksmuseum break off the sponsorship relationship with ING with immediate effect.
Spokesman Josefien van Marlen: “It is indigestible that the Rijksmuseum is still being sponsored by ING, the biggest financial driver of the climate crisis. The disasters caused by the climate and ecological crisis follow each other at a rapid pace. In recent days alone, a devastating hurricane has passed through the south of America, resulting in deaths, displaced people and gigantic damage. ING, which finances the fossil industry billions a year, is directly co-responsible for these disasters. And what does our Rijksmuseum do? It rolls out the red rect for the largest fossil financier in the Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum gives the major polluter the chance to hide his dirty face behind our most beautiful works of art. That has to stop, with immediate effect. The world is on fire.”
*Art wash street*
The rebels waited for the board members of ING and the Rijksmuseum in front of the museum in yellow overalls smeared with paint. In this way, they formed an ‘art wash street’: the board members had to wrudge past the yellow rebels to go inside. The board members were likely to be smeared with paint. Art washing means that companies hide their bad activities from sight by committing to art institutions. This is exactly what the Rijksmuseum, with Dutch most important cultural heritage, is still abused by ING.
*Sponsor relationship ING: unacceptable and unnecessary*
The sponsoring relationship of the Rijksmuseum with ING is unacceptable, and also completely unnecessary. The total revenue of the Rijksmuseum in 2023 amounted to 123.3 million euros. ING’s contribution is estimated at about 700,000 euros. This means that if the Rijksmuseum breaks off the sponsorship relationship with ING, it will not miss 0.6% of its income. It is incomprehensible that the museum still chooses to commit to the bulky polluter ING.
*ING’s financing policy is at odds with livable earth*
The summer of 2024 was the hottest ever recorded in the world. Climate disasters follow each other at a rapid pace. Hurricane Milton caused unprecedented destruction in the South of America in recent days, while the damage from Hurricane Helene, a few weeks earlier, has not even been repaired. In recent months, many thousands of people in Europe have been affected by severe flooding due to extreme rainfall and in August 2024 more than 5 million people in India and Bangladesh have been affected by floods, including heavy rain. Typhoon Yagi raced over China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
ING is partly responsible for these climate disasters. Not only because the bank has financed the fossil industry for years, but also because the major polluter persists in that financing policy. There has been no doubt about the impact of fossil industry on the earth’s livability for decades. Nevertheless, ING continues to finance destruction.
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Today, on Friday, October 11 at 6:45 pm, about twenty Extinction Rebellion rebels blocked access to the museum for the board members of the Rijksmuseum and ING. Rebels smeared with yellow paint prevent entry with an ‘art wash street’. The management wanted to dine together under the Night Watch. The rebels demand that the Rijksmuseum break off the sponsorship relationship with ING with immediate effect.
Spokesman Josefien van Marlen: “It is indigestible that the Rijksmuseum is still being sponsored by ING, the biggest financial driver of the climate crisis. The disasters caused by the climate and ecological crisis follow each other at a rapid pace. In recent days alone, a devastating hurricane has passed through the south of America, resulting in deaths, displaced people and gigantic damage. ING, which finances the fossil industry billions a year, is directly co-responsible for these disasters. And what does our Rijksmuseum do? It rolls out the red rect for the largest fossil financier in the Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum gives the major polluter the chance to hide his dirty face behind our most beautiful works of art. That has to stop, with immediate effect. The world is on fire.”
*Art wash street*
The rebels waited for the board members of ING and the Rijksmuseum in front of the museum in yellow overalls smeared with paint. In this way, they formed an ‘art wash street’: the board members had to wrudge past the yellow rebels to go inside. The board members were likely to be smeared with paint. Art washing means that companies hide their bad activities from sight by committing to art institutions. This is exactly what the Rijksmuseum, with Dutch most important cultural heritage, is still abused by ING.
*Sponsor relationship ING: unacceptable and unnecessary*
The sponsoring relationship of the Rijksmuseum with ING is unacceptable, and also completely unnecessary. The total revenue of the Rijksmuseum in 2023 amounted to 123.3 million euros. ING’s contribution is estimated at about 700,000 euros. This means that if the Rijksmuseum breaks off the sponsorship relationship with ING, it will not miss 0.6% of its income. It is incomprehensible that the museum still chooses to commit to the bulky polluter ING.
*ING’s financing policy is at odds with livable earth*
The summer of 2024 was the hottest ever recorded in the world. Climate disasters follow each other at a rapid pace. Hurricane Milton caused unprecedented destruction in the South of America in recent days, while the damage from Hurricane Helene, a few weeks earlier, has not even been repaired. In recent months, many thousands of people in Europe have been affected by severe flooding due to extreme rainfall and in August 2024 more than 5 million people in India and Bangladesh have been affected by floods, including heavy rain. Typhoon Yagi raced over China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
ING is partly responsible for these climate disasters. Not only because the bank has financed the fossil industry for years, but also because the major polluter persists in that financing policy. There has been no doubt about the impact of fossil industry on the earth’s livability for decades. Nevertheless, ING continues to finance destruction.