Hundreds protest against BP sponsorship of British Museum exhibition

'We would like the British Museum to drop BP as a sponsor and give a platform to Iraqi voices,' activist says

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the British Museum to demonstrate against an exhibtion sponsored by oil giant BP.

Around 350 activists and artists were among the crowd expressing their anger against the display entitled "I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria".

Earlier in the week they had already staged their own exhibtion at central London’s P21 Gallery, scheduled to run until 2 March, and called "I am British Petroleum, King of Exploitation, king of Injustice".

At the “flash mob demonstration against the impact of BP’s role in Iraq" in the British Museum, activists formed a circle around the central rotunda of its Great Court using 200 metres of black fabric.

On it was painted with words and symbols, which they said represented "connections between BP sponsorship, climate change, looted artefacts and theIraq war“.

It also incorporated artwork by Kurdish Iraqi artist Mariwan Jalal.

Organisers, BP or Not BP, said it was a challenge to the oil giant's sponsorship of the Assyrian exhibition including objects from what is now known as Iraq.

Participants also delivered over 200 messages to the British Museum, demanding it “ends its relationship with BP, returns stolen objects and addresses its colonial past.”

One of the protest's organisers Mattina Hiwaizi said: “As a Kurd, I can really see the detrimental impact BP has had on the environment and people of the Middle East. We would like the British Museum to drop BP as a sponsor and give a platform to Iraqi voices.”

The 23-year-old added BP’s sponsorship of the exhibition at the British Museum was “a disgusting business agreement with the British Museum continuing to build on its colonial past and with BP exploiting the institute’s questionable politics.”

UK-born Iraqi photo-journalist Ahmed Twaij said the museum was “white-washing BP’s role in Iraq” while BP itself was capitalising on Iraqi oil to promote Iraqi artefacts in an exhibition inaccessible to the country’s own citizens.

Iraqi activist and co-curator Maryam Hussein added: “We haven’t even approached the question of how the British Museum acquired these artefacts. The outrageous collaboration of the British Museum and BP makes us more adamant to demand accountability.

"Last summer, 100,000 people were hospitalised in Basra because of the state of the water there, an area where BP is subcontracted the third largest oil field in the world.”

A British Museum spokesperson said about the exhibition: ”The objects from the British Museum’s collection were collected and excavated with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman government in the 19th century, who gave permission for the objects to be exported. We have very good relationships with our colleagues in Iraq, collaborating with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. In response to the Iraq War, we are training 50 Iraqi archaeologists in emergency heritage management through the Iraq Scheme which is featured in the exhibition.”