In October 2022 two young Just Stop Oil supporters, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, threw tomato soup over the glass protecting Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting at the National Gallery in London. Last month at Southwark Crown Court they received prison sentences of two years and 20 months respectively, handed down by controversial judge Christopher Hehir who in the trial of five Just Stop Oil protesters is quoted as commenting that “Facing the end of the world is neither here nor there”.
On the day that Phoebe and Anna were sentenced, hundreds sat outside the court holding photographs of political prisoners from around the world and through the years, and three Just Stop Oil supporters threw soup at two versions of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the new National Gallery exhibition to demonstrate that far from deterring protest, the prison sentences simply invited further escalation.
Today, three health workers visited the same exhibition to show solidarity, and peacefully unfurled a large banner in front of the paintings. The gallery was swiftly cleared by anxious security staff, who attempted to snatch the banner, but after a while the protesters were escorted from the building with no arrests on this occasion.
Many health bodies are recognising the climate and ecological emergency as a serious health issue, and in 2021 more than 200 international health journals published a joint editorial statement urging world leaders to tackle the “catastrophic harm”. A few days ago the British Medical Journal published a film calling the criminalisation of health professionals in particular as “unconscionable”.
But our governments are cracking down further on protest, and pushing ahead with fossil fuel exploration and extraction. 2023 saw the highest global emissions in history – far from the promises and aims of the Paris Climate Agreement signed almost a decade ago.
In October 2022, Phoebe Plummer asked “What is worth more, art or life?” and Van Gogh himself wrote “Reality is more important than the feeling for pictures.” Surely we should be listening to the health professionals and young people who are sounding the fire alarm, and start putting out the fire, not imprisoning those who alert us to danger?
