George Osodi, Eriemu Gas Flare - Niger Delta 2004. Courtesy Art Not Oil
The day after Aberystwyth Arts Centre closes its display from the Shell-sponsored Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2006 competition, up will go a counter-exhibition created by Rising Tide, fierce critics of the oil company’s sponsorship of the competition.
Shell’s Wild Lie is part of the green organisation Art Not Oil's campaign against Shell's sponsoship of the competition and will run until November 17 2007. It aims to illustrate what Rising Tide believes is a truer picture of Shell and the fossil fuel industry.
2007- 08 was the second year of Shell’s two-year contract with the Natural History Museum, which organises the competition along with BBC Wildlife Magazine. The contract was worth £750,000.
“We have been led to believe that the museum is unlikely to renew such a controversial contract,” comments Sam Chase of Rising Tide, “but we, the public, need to keep up the pressure on it to steer clear of Shell and big oil’s tainted cash."
"In fact, it’s time for oil industry sponsorship of the arts and culture to become extinct before it’s too late to save some of the countless species whose future is threatened by climate chaos.”
The exhibition features photographs and illustrations of places that Art Not Oil say have been despoiled by oil extraction, such as the Niger Delta, and wildlife under threat because of Shell’s activities.
Find out more about the campaign at www.artnotoil.org.uk.
