A group of officials overseeing major UK cultural institutions, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Gallery, have signed a public letter defending the use of funding from corporate sponsors, a practice that has been widely criticized by activist groups.
Published in the Financial Times, the brief letter calls for an end to what it describes as “relentless negativity” surrounding private sector partnerships.
Authored by Alistair Spalding and Britannia Morton, co-chief executives of Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the letter is backed by ten organizations, including the Science Museum Group. The letter comes one year after protests over the sponsorship of literary festivals by Baillie Gifford, an investment firm criticized for ties to fossil fuels and Israel. In 2023, nine festivals ended partnerships with the firm amid pressure from the public.
The letter argues that business partnerships help cultural organizations expand and compete for prestige. “Our museums, theatres, festivals and artists need to operate within the economic structures in which society operates,” it states.
Notably absent among the signatories were any representatives from the Tate museum network. Maria Balshaw, director of the Tate, recently opposed British Petroleum’s £50 million sponsorship of the British Museum, saying that such a deal was out of step with public opinion.
In 2019, the National Portrait Gallery in London refused a £1 million grant from the Sackler Trust, becoming one of the first major museums to turn down funding from the American Pharmaceutical family after activists exposed their connection to the US’s opioid epidemic.
Philanthropic advisors are seeing the scrutiny change the habits of collectors and arts patrons. “I do think the protests are a deterrent,” Leslie Ramos, an arts funding adviser told FT in March. “There is concern about reputational damage.
