Ten activists have been arrested inside the Louvre in Paris after protesting against oil sponsorship of the museum.

The group, clad in black, walked barefoot through an “oil spill” created by molasses poured on the museum’s marble floor. Meanwhile, hundreds of artists and activists gathered by the pyramid outside the museum with black umbrellas painted in white with the words “fossil free culture”.



The action took place on Wednesday as crunch UN climate change talks continue in the northern suburbs of the capital and amid an ongoing ban by French authorities on public demonstrations imposed in the wake of recent terrorism attacks in the city.

While many activist groups have respected the ban and found creative ways around it, hundreds of protesters were arrested ahead of the talks. French police have ejected peaceful activists from key events and conducted house arrests on those they suspect may flout the ban.

Campaign groups from the US, UK, Norway and Brazil came together for the action to call on the museum – one of the world’s largest – to end its sponsorship deals with major oil companies Total and Eni.

Chris Garrard, of the British protest group Art not Oil, was co-ordinating the protest outside the museum. He told the Guardian: “We are collectively trying to liberate cultural institutions from corporate interference. When oil companies sponsor art institutions those museums and galleries are actually sponsoring the oil companies as well.

“They are giving them the social legitimacy they don’t deserve and helping them to clear up their brand image. The COP21 negotiations you have still got the oil companies in there – we need them out of COP21 and we need them out of our cultural institutions.”

BREAKING: 10 performers arrested after spilling 'oil' in Louvre due 2 dirty oil sponsors #fossilfreeculture #NICOP21 pic.twitter.com/MYZFwXW5rf — New Internationalist (@newint) December 9, 2015

Total is currently sponsoring an exhibition called A Brief History of the Future, which the Louvre describes as “one of the most anticipated” of 2015.

In a statement about the partnership on the website, Eni said:

“In recent years, the relationship between business and society has changed, reflecting the transformation of the community in which we live. Convinced that the world of culture in general is a fundamental element for growth and development of the company, Eni is committed to the promotion and support of various cultural projects ...

“The relationship with the Louvre began in 2008 through the support of the exhibition ‘Mantegna’. The collaboration was so successful that the following year, Eni decided not only to renew the alliance but also to sign a partnership agreement with the French institution that qualifies Eni of ‘outstanding patron of the Louvre’ with its name permanently etched in the famous Pyramid.”

The Louvre could not be reached for comment at time of the publication.