EXCLUSIVE: Help! Climate change campaigners SHUT DOWN Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney’s photography exhibition after targeting it over Bank of America sponsorship
- Dozens of climate protesters took to the National Portrait Gallery this afternoon
- The group targeted the Paul McCartney exhibit in protest of Bank of America
- It comes just months after the gallery was reopened, supported by the company
Over a dozen climate protesters equipped with wigs and a large yellow banner took to the Paul McCartney exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery today in protest of Bank of America.
The group targeted the exhibit in London, which shows never-before-seen photos taken by the legendary musician.
Protesters changed the lyrics to popular Beatles songs and some dressed as makeshift versions of the band members.
Visitors of the gallery were promptly shooed out, while campaigners could still be heard singing behind closed doors.
The whole incident reportedly lasted for 45 minutes, before visitors were allowed back inside and the gallery resumed as normal.
Climate protesters equipped with wigs and a large yellow banner took to the Paul McCartney exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery today in protest of Bank of America
It comes just months after the gallery’s long-awaited reopening, which was partly supported by Bank of America
Adapting the lyrics to the song ‘Help!’, the protesters can be heard chanting: ‘We’ll fight against climate change and oil in any way.’
The new lyrics seemed to have been printed on an A4 piece of paper, the back of which read: ‘Fossil free London’.
The campaigners were quickly taken behind a screen by security, while a spokesperson attempted to argue their case before a crowd.
He shouted: ‘We love this art, we think it should be here for everyone to enjoy and it should not be used to justify the climate activities of Bank of America.
‘We think the values of these songs should be about preserving the planet.
‘Shame on the National Gallery for taking the oily money of Bank of America.
‘We’ll fight against climate change and oil in any way.’
Speaking to MailOnline, a National Portrait Gallery spokesperson said: ‘This afternoon, members of a climate protest group demonstrated by singing songs within the Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm exhibition.
‘The exhibition was temporarily closed for around 20 minutes. In line with our security procedures, the Gallery contacted the Police who arrived and led the protesters out of the building.
‘No exhibition photographs were targeted during the protest. Visitors who experienced disruption were compensated with replacement exhibition tickets.’
Campaigners held signs which appear to read: ‘Fossil Free London’ on the back of which, looked to be climate change-fitting Beatles lyrics
Security were quickly on the case and moved protesters behind a screen while a spokesperson chanted
One protester can be heard shouting: ‘Shame on the National Gallery for taking the oily money of Bank of America.’
It comes just months after the Gallery’s reopening this year, in June which is supported by Bank of America alongside Bloomberg Philanthropies, CHANEL Culture Fund, Herbert Smith Freehills and Taylor Wessing.
READ MORE: When Kate met Macca! Princess of Wales is left in fits of giggles as she shares a joke with Sir Paul McCartney during re-opening of the National Portrait Gallery after a 3-year refurbishment
The exhibit, named Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm opened exactly 2 months ago and will run until Sunday, 1 October.
It is described as ‘an extraordinary archive of rediscovered and never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney,’ and is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The exhibit was opened by the Princess of Wales and attended by Paul McCartney himself.
The National Portrait Gallery website says it is ‘uniquely personal’ and offers some perspective on ‘what it was like to be a Beatle at the start of Beatlemania,’ through the eyes of Paul McCartney.
The exhibit was launched shortly after its first exhibition ‘Yevonde: Life and Colour’, which lasts until Sunday, 15 October.
Two more exhibits will be shown this year, including ‘David Hockney: Drawing from Life’ and ‘Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize’, while a further two await in 2024.
This is not the first time the National Portrait Gallery has been targeted. A year prior to its temporary closure in June 2020, Extinction Rebellion activists covered themselves in fake oil in protest against its sponsorship by BP.
Topless activists curled up in a foetal position as others coated themselves in the ‘oil’ in front of a BP-sponsored art display.
The unauthorised stunt capped a two-week wave of actions by the civil disobedience movement, which led to more than 3,300 arrests in London and cities around the world, the group said.
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