An oil spill trickled down the stairs from the Winged Victory of Samothrace – one of the most iconic statues in the Louvre museum in Paris – towards the galleries sponsored by oil and gas major Total.

About 40 members of the campaign collective “Libérons le Louvre” staged their first performance mixing art and activism on Sunday, 5 March 2017.

Dressed in black, they assembled at the stairs of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, where they took off their black scarves, jackets and shirts to lay them on the ground, creating a visual of an oil spill.

Oil spill spreads at the feet of the Victory of Samothrace sta…An oil spill trickled slowly down the iconic steps of the Musée du Louvre yesterday, towards the galleries sponsored by fossil fuel giant Total. Watch the beautiful first performance of Libérons le Louvre, a group of artivists prepared to keep coming back over and over and over to highlight Total’s destructive business plans, until the Louvre goes #fossilfree! https://gofossilfree.org/europe/louvremuseum/

Posted by 350.org on Monday, March 6, 2017

 

Earlier this year, the group launched a call on the museum to drop its sponsorship deal with Total. The petition has already been signed by close to 10,000. Since the museum failed to act on the demand so far, the campaign collective has now launched its first performance, pledging to keep coming back to highlight the museum’s dirty deal with Total.

Photo: Denis Meyer

Photo: Denis Meyer

 

The campaign’s first action has already received widespread media coverage in France including pieces in radio and television. What a way to start off their campaign!

 

What are they going to get up to next? And when is the Louvre going to kick Total out of the museum? Follow @Liberons_Louvre

 

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