This is a repost from Emma’s website – see original statement here.

Why I decided to withdraw from Icebreaker concerts at Bradford Science & Media Museum and London Science Museum

What use is an Icebreaker when there’s no ice?

What use is a Science Museum that doesn’t act on science?

I am a signatory of Culture Declares Emergency. This means that I recognise that we are in a climate and ecological emergency, and I am committed to addressing the emergency in all aspects of my musical life.

I have therefore withdrawn from performing on violin with Icebreaker at London’s Science Museum and Bradford’s Science and Media museum in February and March in protest at the museum’s sponsorship by Adani and BP, two of the most egregious fossil fuel companies which are actively undermining decarbonisation. It is clear to me that the Science Museum is allowing Adani and BP to greenwash their image in the public eye.

Adani Green Energy claims to be working towards the promotion of renewable energy. But it is part of the much larger Adani Group which is the world’s biggest private producer of coal, and has a joint venture with weapons producer Elbit Systems, producing drones that are being used in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Science Museum opened the Adani Green Energy Gallery in March 2024 to explore the science of green energy. Meanwhile, indigenous people in India have been violently moved from their land to make way for Adani’s coal mines and coal-fired power stations. In Australia, Adani are building the largest coal mine in the country’s history.

These activities are in opposition to the decarbonisation of our culture that scientists have been urging for decades to avoid catastrophic global heating.

Adani Defence & Aerospace runs a joint venture with Israeli weapons producer Elbit Systems, which builds the massive Hermes 900 drone, which carries missiles and bombs and has been used extensively in Israel’s mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza. Adani also has a joint venture with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), developing and manufacturing assault and sniper rifles and machine guns. 

“Israeli forces have been accused of war crimes. By supplying technology and arms, Adani Group is potentially complicit in these violations.” Report by Parents for Palestine, 2024

I shared my concerns, very uncomfortably, with Icebreaker and the project’s composers and producers at our first project gathering in May 2024. I could have pulled out at this stage but felt it was important to stay inside the project – I’ve been a member of Icebreaker for a long time – and discuss the issues with people at every opportunity. I’m sure I sounded like a scratched record to some musicians.

When the Science Museum ended fossil fuel company Equinor’s sponsorship in June 2024, because ‘it was in breach of the museum’s pledge to ensure its partners complied with the Paris climate agreement’ (The Telegraph), it seemed likely that the others would surely follow. We’re still waiting.

I wrote to Science Museum Director Ian Blatchford in the autumn, urging him to be a hero, act on the science – walk the talk – and drop the sponsorship of Adani and BP. I even sent him the lyrics to the Bonnie Tyler’s magnificent ’80s hit I need a hero. To date, Ian Blatchford hasn’t replied.

As the performances approached I hoped that the 13 musicians of Icebreaker would be able to find a way of speaking out. We didn’t find consensus on whether or how to proceed. Icebreaker is not a signatory to Culture Declares Emergency.

London’s Science Museum and Icebreaker have collaborated on several projects over a period of 15 years. It can be a museum of international standing and high curatorial, educational and ethical standards. However, the Museum has compromised those standards through its choice of partners.

I ask the Science Museum Group to abandon the partnerships with Adani and BP and return to its ethical principles. Behind the logos gives a great insight into why oil sponsors don’t belong in a museum.

I will be donating all fees I have received for the music project to Greenpeace and Parents for Palestine.

https://cultureunstained.org/latest-news/

https://www.fossilfreesciencemuseum.com/reclaim-the-sciencemuseum

https://www.stopadani.com/join

www.parentsforpalestine.org/genocide-museum

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