Release date: 19 December 2011
Four of the UK's major cultural institutions - the
British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal
Opera House, and Tate Britain - today announced the
renewal and extension of their long-standing partnerships
with BP.
In total, BP will invest almost £10 million in the four
partnerships over the next five years. Taken together,
these agreements represent one of the most significant
long-term corporate investments in UK arts and
culture.
The renewal and expansion of the partnerships were
announced today in the BP Lecture Theatre in the British
Museum in London, at an event attended by Ed Vaizey MP,
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative
Industries and Iain Conn, managing director of BP,
together with Neil MacGregor, Director of the British
Museum, Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera
House, Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait
Gallery and Nicholas Serota, Director Tate.
Each of the four institutions has a long-standing
partnership with BP - most stretching back over 20 years
- which the new agreements will extend for a further five
years, out to 2017. The increased level of funding from
BP will also allow them to further develop their
programmes and extend access to wider audiences.
Providing secure funding and building long-term
relationships with partner institutions is a key approach
in BP's support of the arts and culture in the UK. This
helps underpin the institutions' long-term development of
programmes of exhibitions and performances, helping them
to secure performers, artists and works of art well into
the future.
Since the beginning of the institutions' partnerships with BP:
- Over 30 million people have visited Tate Britain and enjoyed the refreshed BP British Art Displays.
- Over 1.2 million people have attended a BP special exhibition at the British Museum.
- Over 3 million people have visited the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery which, in total, has attracted around 30,000 entries to the competition from more than 80 countries.
- With the Royal Opera House, the BP Summer Big Screens programme has extended from one initial location in London in 2000 to 21 locations across the UK in 2011, providing thousands of people access to free world class ballet and opera.
Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications
and Creative Industries:
"BP's renewed commitment to four of Britain's great
cultural institutions is extremely welcome. This is a
significant investment, with £10 million going directly
towards the staging of world-class exhibitions and
performances. For more than 20 years, BP has led the way
in business support for the arts, and I am delighted that
this will continue over the next five years."
Iain Conn, BP managing director:
"BP is a worldwide company operating in all five
continents and headquartered here in the UK. I
believe that everywhere we operate we should seek to
contribute to the wider community and not only through
our business activities. It is important to us that
we make a meaningful contribution to society here in the
UK. Our work with these partner institutions is a major
part of this - enabling people around the country and the
world to connect through the experience of outstanding
exhibitions and performances, promoting ideas and
encouraging creativity."
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum:
"Thanks to BP's longstanding support well over one
million visitors to the British Museum have been able to
get close to Michelangelo, discover the ancient Egyptian
Book of the Dead, experience Chinese New Year and
understand Ancient Persia. BP's renewed commitment to the
Museum allows us to ensure that our six million visitors
a year will continue to have the opportunity to
experience important loan exhibitions for the next five
years. We are hugely grateful to BP for their ongoing
support."
Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait
Gallery:
"The National Portrait Gallery greatly welcomes the
announcement of BP's support for the Portrait Award for
the next five years. It is wonderful news for all those,
whether visitors or artists, who want to create or admire
the very best of portrait painting from around the
world."
Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera
House:
"I am extremely thrilled that BP has committed to a
further five years with the Royal Opera House. The way in
which the partnership has grown and developed over the
past 23 years is extraordinary - we reached more than
40,000 people this year through our free BP Summer
Big Screens, and have worked with many, many more people
over the years through various education activities.
"The surety of increased funding going forward for a further five years helps us to plan ahead with great confidence, something even more valuable at this time of economic uncertainty. It's great that we can continue to inspire audiences with world class opera and ballet across the UK, where they live, for free."
Nicholas Serota Director of Tate:
"BP has been one of the most long-standing supporters of
the arts and the announcement today demonstrates a
continuing commitment to the cultural life of this
country. Over the past twenty years BP's sponsorship
of Tate Britain has allowed us to do far more with the
way we display our Collection. From showing historic
masterpieces to presenting the latest developments in
contemporary art, the BP British Art displays make both
the famous and the lesser-known works of British art
accessible to a variety of audiences. Over 30 million
people have come to Tate Britain to view collection
displays in the past 22 years. BP's continued support
over the next five years will be vital as we rehang the
displays in 2013 following completion of major building
works."
Colin Tweedy, CEO of Arts & Business:
"Throughout the 35 year history of Arts & Business, one
business has been alongside the arts throughout,
developing sustainable, innovative and creative
partnerships.
We are delighted that BP is to renew its support of The
National Portrait Gallery, The British Museum, Royal
Opera House and Tate Britain for another five years. BP's
support enables the arts to illuminate so many lives
across the UK.
Arts & Business, on behalf of the arts community and our
wider communities must thank BP - a pioneering corporate
investor in UK arts and culture. The arts world is much
richer with BP."
BP is the longest-standing supporter of the
National Portrait Gallery.
The Portrait Award, now in its thirty-third year
at the National Portrait Gallery and twenty-third year of
sponsorship by BP, is the most prestigious portrait
competition in the world.
Promoting the very best in contemporary portrait
painting, the BP Portrait Award has proved the
launchpad of the careers of many successful portrait
artists and the connected BP Travel Award, has
given artists the opportunity to work on portraiture
projects in a range of different environments.
In 2011 the exhibition received a record 341,050
visitors, the highest ever for an exhibition at the
National Portrait Gallery. It also received a record
number of entries in 2011 - 2,372 portraits by artists
from 65 countries across the world. The exhibition of the
award winners and selected entries is being shown in
Wolverhampton and Aberdeen as well as at the Gallery in
London.
In addition, in 2010 the BP Portrait Award: Next
Generation was launched to engage young people with
portraiture. Established as part of the Cultural Olympiad
and its finale, the London 2012 Festival, the BP
Portrait Award: Next Generation will provide a
permanent artistic legacy by encouraging young artists of
the future.
BP's commitment to a further five years in
partnership with the Royal Opera House builds on a long
and fruitful relationship which will reach almost thirty
years by 2017; the longest-standing partnership of any
corporate partner with the Royal Opera House.
BP and the Royal Opera House began work together in
partnership in 1988 with BP's sponsorship of a variety of
educational and outreach initiatives including BP Behind
the Scenes Week and BP Schools' Matinees. BP's commitment
has grown over years but both education and accessibility
have remained key, making opera and ballet available to
as many people as possible and at little or no cost.
For the last 11 years, BP has supported the free Big
Screen live relays of opera and ballet direct from Covent
Garden to an increasing number of sites across the
country. This enables the Royal Opera House to reach as
many people as possible with exhilarating live
performances, allowing them to experience the very best
of opera and ballet in their home town for free.
This year there were 39 screenings across 21
locations, two ballets and one opera. Each live screening
is introduced by a host and enhanced with
behind-the-scenes footage of dancers or singers preparing
for the big performance. With the development of digital
technologies, audiences now have the opportunity to
interact with competitions and twitter feeds, and even a
hum-a-long.
This will continue with additional commitment to
Thurrock where the Royal Opera House works closely in the
community and in collaboration with BBC Screens and
festivals to maximise opportunities to widen audience
reach. BP's sponsorship will also provide additional
support to the Royal Opera House's education and
engagement work with communities across the UK.
In 2012, BP is also supporting a unique collaboration
between the Royal Opera House and The Olympic Museum in
Lausanne in celebration of the London 2012 Festival. A
free exhibition entitled The Olympic Journey: The Story
of the Games will be hosted at the ROH for the duration
of the Olympics telling the story of the great Olympians
through the ages with many artefacts being shown in
London for the very first time.
BP is the British Museum's most longstanding
partner, supporting the Museum's public programme on an
annual basis since 1996. The renewal of BP's support
means the British Museum can ensure that visitors
continue to have the opportunity to experience
stimulating and important exhibitions right through to
2017.
Over the course of 15 years BP has supported numerous
special exhibitions as title sponsor, most recently the
hugely successful Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian
Renaissance Drawings and Journey through the Afterlife:
Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead exhibitions. Over one
million visitors have been able to explore important
topics such as the cultures of ancient Iran, the empire
of Hadrian, the workmanship of Michelangelo and ancient
Egyptian mummification. BP has also supported special
public events at the British Museum around Chinese New
Year and the Mexican Day of the Dead in which over 70,000
people participated.
BP's renewed support means the British Museum can extend
its successful exhibition programme on site and BP will
be the title sponsor of the Museum's first exhibition in
the new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre which
opens in 2014. The exhibition will comprise a major
survey of Viking culture which will offer a new
perspective to a well-known aspect of early European
history.
The British Museum is committed to ensuring its
collection can be seen by the widest possible world
public and BP also supports the Museum in its national
and international work. 'China: Journey to the East' was
the largest exhibition of ancient Chinese material to be
seen outside London, enjoyed by over 400,000 visitors
across 6 UK venues thanks to the support of BP. This has
been the most popular British Museum UK touring
exhibition to date and has recently been extended to
encompass one further venue. BP also plans to support the
British Museum's international touring programme next
year.
The British Museum's major exhibition offering for the
Olympic year is 'Shakespeare: staging the world', in
collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. BP will
be the title sponsor of the exhibition, which is part of
the London 2012 Festival and the World Shakespeare
Festival, offering our visitors a unique vision of London
in the Olympic year.
BP has supported Tate's permanent collection
displays at Millbank since 1990, first at the Tate
Gallery and then from the opening of Tate Britain in 2000
to the present. 2012 will be BP's 23rd year of
support of Tate, making BP the longest standing sponsor
at Tate.
BP's continued support allows Tate Britain to create
a broad and dynamic programme of displays which explores
British art from 1500 to the present. In the last year,
this has enabled Tate Britain to reshape its collection
displays, including a chronological walk through the 20th
century of British Art, and focus displays looking in
more depth at diverse themes such as Rubens and Britain,
the renowned war photographer Don McCullin, and a rehang
of the Clore gallery entitled 'The
Romantics'.
Highlights have included the hugely popular BP Summer
Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolour, in which David
Hockney presented his own selection of Turner's
unique colour studies and provided commentary on the
artist's techniques.
BP's support will continue to focus on the BP
British Art Displays over the next five years, during
which Tate Britain will present an ambitious and dynamic
rehang of the collection displays as the refurbished
galleries re-open in 2013. BP will also be sponsoring a
major international online project.
Tate's pioneering work to engage children and young
people has also benefited from BP's generous support
including the series of BP Saturdays - free festival
events at Tate Britain exploring British art for all ages
and the Tate Movie Project, an animated film made by and
for children in a collaboration between Tate and Aardman
with additional support from the BBC.
Over 35,000 children actively participated in The Tate
Movie Project, making it the winner of a Guinness World
Record for the most individual contributions to an
animated film. The Tate Movie Project is part of the
Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.
The final film was the winner of a Guinness World Record
for the most individual contributions to an animated film
and the project also won the BAFTA 'Interactive' award in
the 2011 British Academy Children's Awards. BP also
supported a Tate Movie Project event at Trafalgar Square
as part of the Open Weekend celebrations in the run up to
the Olympic Games.
Further information:
Office:Press office
Location:British Museum
Phone :020 7323 8522
Email:hboulton@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Office:Press office
Location:National Portrait Gallery
Phone :020 7321 6620
Email:emacnair@npg.org.uk
Office:Royal Opera House
Location:Head of Corporate Communications
Phone :0207 212 9717
Email:elizabeth.bell@roh.org.uk
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