MoMA Closes During Climate Protest Against Board Chair

September 15, 2023

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The Museum of Trendy Artwork (MoMA) in New York Metropolis closed its foyer at the moment, September 15, for over two hours after dozens of local weather activists blocked the establishment’s ticketed entrances. The demonstrators have been protesting the museum’s ties to non-public fairness agency Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which has invested closely in fossil gas tasks. Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR, is the husband of MoMA Board Chair Marie-Josée Kravis; the couple has donated tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to the museum, which named its fourth-floor performance space after them.

Starting at 1:15pm at the moment, a bunch of round 50 protesters gathered exterior of MoMA’s 53rd Avenue entrance, chanting “KKR, disgrace on you, we deserve a future too” and “Hey, ho, Coastal Gasoline has obtained to go!” It’s the second local weather motion at MoMA in current months — in early June, a bunch of activists crashed the museum’s annual benefit gala, additionally demanding Kravis’s resignation.

MoMA closed its foyer quickly after dozens of local weather activists blocked the establishment’s ticketed entrances.

As within the June protest, this motion’s contributors hailed from a variety of local weather activism teams together with Extinction Riot, the Local weather Organizing Hub, and Honor the Earth. It additionally included leaders and members of the Moist’suwet’en First Nation in Canada, whose territory has been threatened by the development of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, which is partially funded by KKR.

Two Moist’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs delivered speeches, each alleging that KKR “kills water, kills wildlife, and kills our lifestyle.” On the finish of their speeches, the 2 chiefs walked towards the museum and handed a letter to a safety guard demanding Kravis’s resignation. They left in a black Escalade parked on the curb.

“Individuals on this constructing are liable for the local weather chaos,” Gina Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa who flew in from Michigan, instructed Hyperallergic. She is an organizer for Honor the Earth and defined the Coast Gaslink pipeline’s effect on water quality. “We’re hoping that holding this rally at the moment will collect folks’s consideration to the tragedy that’s unfolding in entrance of our eyes.”

In response to Hyperallergic‘s inquiry, a spokesperson for KKR despatched the next assertion: “We’re dedicated to investing in a sustainable vitality transition, one which helps a shift to a clear vitality future whereas recognizing the continuing significance of supplying the traditional vitality wanted for well-being, safety and financial progress world wide at the moment.”

The Museum of Trendy Artwork has not responded to Hyperallergic’s request for remark.

The protest included included leaders and members of the Moist’suwet’en Nation in Canada, who reside on territory threatened by the development of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline. (picture by and courtesy Ken Schles)

Henry Kravis co-founded the personal fairness agency Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which has invested in fossil gas tasks.

The protesters disbanded earlier than 2pm however reassembled later, round 3:20pm, contained in the museum foyer. They sat in a line to dam the entrances, main chants of “Hey MoMA, get off it, put the planet over revenue” and “Henry Kravis is a local weather prison.” The blockade continued with a drumming efficiency and louder chanting — “Drop KKR, MoMA, drop KKR!” yelled the activists.

On MoMA’s second stage, a bunch of protesters dropped a banner with the identical slogan. Close by on the bottom flooring, others staged a “die-in” whereas Refik Anadol’s AI set up “Unsupervised” (2023) performed behind them, draping the room in an eerie orange mild.

Inside 25 minutes, the museum had closed entry to the foyer. The activists continued undeterred. Safety officers filed guests down an escalator to a second exit. The protestors sat solely ft away from the underside of the escalator as confused museum patrons descended. In an particularly telling interplay, a customer requested a guard whether or not Kravis was a “fossil man.” “Nicely, he owns plenty of firms,” the safety officer responded. The blockade continued till the museum closed at 5:30pm.

Some activists staged a “die-in” contained in the museum whereas Refik Anadol’s AI set up “Unsupervised” (2023) performed behind them.

Final night time, a local weather protest at CitiBank ended with the arrests of at the least 24 folks. This and the MoMA demonstration are a part of a string of local weather actions in New York that began at BlackRock on Wednesday, September 13 prematurely of Local weather Week within the metropolis.

Marie-Josée Kravis succeeded the disgraced financier Leon Black as MoMA’s board chair in 2021. In a statement printed on Hyperallergic, lots of of artists referred to as for Black’s removing over his monetary hyperlinks to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. Black, who was accused of sexually assaulting a teen in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in a federal lawsuit filed this July, stays a MoMA trustee.