Artists Demand London's Design Museum Remove Works After It Rents Event Space To Arms Fair Exhibitor

Chris Wiliams Zoeica's photo of the 2017 Women's March in Washington, DC, is on view in "Hope to Nope" at the Design Museum, London. Photo courtesy of the Design Museum.

The Design Museum in London is facing a firestorm of criticism for hosting a private reception for Italian aerospace company Leonardo on July 17 in conjunction with the Farnborough International Airshow. The Campaign Against Arms Trade has called the airshow an arms fair, and has published an open letter from artists who are demanding the museum remove their work from display by the end of the month, writes ArtNet News. 

The museum’s current exhibition “Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics, 2008–2018” explores the ways in which graphic design has influenced politics over the last ten years, starting with the famed HOPE poster designed by Shepard Fairey for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. The show includes posters and other artworks created for movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution, as well as Fairey’s “We the People” posters for the 2017 Women’s March.

“It is deeply hypocritical for the museum to display and celebrate the work of radical anti-corporate artists and activists, while quietly supporting and profiting from one of the most destructive and deadly industries in the world,” reads the letter. “‘Hope to Nope’ is making the museum appear progressive and cutting-edge, while its management and trustees are happy to take blood money from arms dealers.”

“As a charity, 98 percent of the museum’s running costs come from admissions, retail, fundraising and event hire, such as the one hosted that night,” the Design Museum told the Guardian, adding that it “is committed to achieving its charitable objective to advance the education of the public in the study of all forms of design and architecture and is thus a place of debate that, by definition, welcomes a plurality of voices and commercial entities. However, we take the response to Tuesday’s event seriously and we are reviewing our due diligence policy related to commercial and fundraising activities.”

Read the letter at ArtNet.