Police today arrested members of the Stop Fossil Fuels Subsidies, the climate activist group that yesterday appeared to deface an Andy Warhol artwork in the National Gallery of Australia.
A 60-year-old woman was arrested in relation to the incident. She has been charged with defacing property, released on bail, and will face court tomorrow. It is understood she is Bonnie Cassen, a self-styled ‘Earth warrior [and] climate activist’, and editor of the New Bush Telegraph.
Ms Cassen and another woman sprayed with children’s paint the glass frames covering Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup I, then glued their hands to the frames.
On Facebook, the group claimed it was “highlighting the dangers of capitalism by glueing onto Andy Warhol Art depicting consumerism gone mad”.
- Climate protesters vandalise Andy Warhol work at NGA (10 October)
The NGA said the prized modern artwork was not damaged. It went back on display yesterday.
In a statement today, Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies described the activists as “two brave concerned Australians”. The act, they claimed, was “carefully planned so as to be non-violent and to cause no damage or harm”. They denied their act was vandalism.
The incident follows similar attacks around the world on famous artworks. Activists – many associated with Extinction Rebellion – have thrown tomato soup and mashed potatoes at works by van Gogh and Monet, or glued themselves to works by Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and Vermeer.
Another activist, a woman, was arrested today for obstructing traffic in central Canberra. Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies members blocked major roads in Civic, as a video they published on Facebook shows.
The woman received police bail to face court tomorrow.
Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies describes itself as “a group of ordinary concerned citizens aware of the severity of the climate crisis”, using non-violent civil resistance to force the government to listen. It is part of a global civil resistance network known as A22.
They demand that all levels of government stop subsidies to fossil fuel companies.
The group’s campaign began last week when a woman glued herself to an exhibition about suffragettes at Australian Parliament House. The woman has been banned from Parliament House for a year.
“Government, industry and the media are underplaying the seriousness of climate change and all that goes with it such as increasing extreme weather events, food and water shortages, climate refugees fleeing ever more unliveable regions, resource wars, and temperature related health conditions such as heat stroke, to name just a few,” a spokesperson for the group said.
“Scientists and humanitarians are shouting to get the truth out, but between misinformation campaigns, greed, and denialism, the message is not being heard and acted on nearly fast enough.
“#StopFFS and other concerned groups around the globe are stepping up and risking much to do whatever it non-violently takes to get the message out and force governments to come to the table and start to take their duty of care to us, the people who voted them in, to protect us seriously. When normal channels are blocked or ignored, we must get the message out through less than ordinary methods.”
Extinction Rebellion ACT has shared Stop FFS’ videos on its Facebook page, and expressed its “solidarity” with Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies. Last year, XR ACT defaced the John Gorton Building, and spray-painted climate change slogans outside Parliament House and the Lodge.
