Australia: Climate Activists Glue Their Hands To $179 Million Picasso Painting At Melbourne Gallery, Arrested

Two climate activists glued their hands to a prized Pablo Picasso's anti-war painting 'Massacre in Korea' at the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia.

Climate activists glue themselves to Picasso painting

The protest was staged at the prominent museum where the classic painting of the legendary artist is housed. Two demonstrators, standing alongside a banner that read "Climate Chaos = War and Famine", stuck their hands to the glass covering of the artwork in Melbourne, Australia.

AFP

A man wearing a T-shirt with the Extinction Rebellion symbol ¡ª an hourglass in a circle ¡ª stood alongside them. Extinction Rebellion is a global environmental movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to highlight tipping points in the climate system.

On Twitter, the group said it had carried out the demonstration to "highlight the connection between climate breakdown and human suffering".

Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Brad Homewood said the group ¡°knew we could do this action without damaging the artwork itself. Our intention was always to glue onto the perspex protecting it.¡±

A conservator from the gallery used acetone to dissolve the superglue used by the protesters, Homewood said.

They then went on to quote David Attenborough: "If we continue on our current path, we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security."

Climate activists arrested after glueing themselves to Picasso painting

"It is believed three protesters entered the ground level of the gallery before a man and a woman glued themselves to a protective covering of a Picasso painting," said a Victoria Police spokeswoman, as per AFP.

The protesters - a 49-year-old woman from New South Wales and a 59-year-old man from Melbourne - were ¡°removed from the painting¡± more than an hour after their action was believed to have started, police said.

I'm at the Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria and just as I'm about to go up to his Weeping Woman (1937) some Extinction Rebellion protestors have begun yelling slogans and attached themselves to a painting in the next room! pic.twitter.com/zTnRYbuU8P

¡ª Paul Harty¨¢nszky (@PaulHartyanszky) October 9, 2022

"They were arrested along with a 49-year-old man and were assisting police with their inquiries," a spokesman added.

The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. It shows protesters yelling and security guards near the painting. The protesters can be seen yelling, ¡°stop coal, stop gas, stop oil, stop logging¡±.

"The protesters' hands were safely removed from the perspex with no harm to the work," said a spokesperson for the National Gallery of Victoria.

The 1951 work by Pablo Picasso "shows the horrors of war", Extinction Rebellion Victoria said on its Facebook page.

"Climate breakdown will mean an increase in conflict around the world. Now is the time for everyone and all institutions to stand up for action!" the group said.

The painting was being shown on the final day of the gallery's "The Picasso Century" exhibition.

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