On the last day of the Global Divestment Mobilisation some brave and creative artists performed an inspiring piece ‘Drop the Shell’ in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The performance was a clear statement against the poisonous relationship between the Van Gogh Museum and oil giant Shell. Because of a few drops of syrup – the fake oil prop used in the performance – the police were called in and 9 arrests followed: 7 performers and 2 bystanders. It took several days till the last arrestees were released. This disproportional response by both the museum and police forces was covered by local and international media and received a lot of negative reactions from the general public, as well as politicians.

 

Since then, the case against the #VanGogh8 has been dismissed, and last week a court ruled that police had abused its authority in detaining 4 of the activists longer than the rest.

In the words of Fossil Free Culture NL, “art sponsored by oil is not worth being viewed.”