William Blake takes on GlaxoSmithKline
Neil (Practical History) | 11.02.2001 19:42
A crowd of angels, chimney sweeps and tygers gathered outside the Tate Britain gallery in London this afternoon (Sunday 11th February 2001) to reclaim William Blake from 'the dead hand of capital, empire and state' and denounce the corporate sponsors of the Blake exhibition at the Tate - GlaxoSmithKline.
On the final day of the William Blake exhibition at the Tate Britain Gallery in London, 30 people gathered on the steps outside to reclaim Blake from 'the dead hand of capital, empire and state' and to denounce the corporate sponsors of the Blake exhibition, GlaxoSmithKline.
People dressed up as angels, tygers, chimney sweeps and other suitably Blakean costumes, played music, and read out work from the 18th century radical poet, artist and visionary. A leaflet was handed out saying:
"The William Blake exhibition at the Tate Britain gallery makes it clear that Blake was a revolutionary as well as a visionary – yet bizarrely it is sponsored by one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmithKline (formerly Glaxo Wellcome). While Blake railed against poverty and oppression, GlaxoSmithKline is denying millions of African people with HIV access to drugs that could save their lives".
Most people and governments in Africa cannot afford the market price for GlaxoSmithKline's products, and the company is taking the South African government to court to prevent South Africa from making or buying abroad cheap, generic copies of anti-HIV drugs to treat patients.
The action got a very good response from visitors to the Gallery, many of whom stopped to listen to what was going on. One passer-by who joined in and read out a Blake poem told the crowd - 'the spirit of Blake is here on the steps'.
The Tate management were less sympathetic, calling the police (although there were no arrests) and banning people from going into the gallery, for the crime of reading out extracts of Blake - while inside they were charging £8 for the privelege of seeing works by the same artist.
The leaflet concluded: "In placing their logo on the art exhibitions, corporations like Glaxo Wellcome are laying claim to the creative energies of the past. In denying lifesaving drug treatments, they are demonstrating how the creative energies of all of us, including medical knowledge, are subordinated to the creation of wealth rather than the meeting of our needs".
A full report of this event, with pictures, will be posted on the Practical History website later this week: www.geocities.com/pract_history
People dressed up as angels, tygers, chimney sweeps and other suitably Blakean costumes, played music, and read out work from the 18th century radical poet, artist and visionary. A leaflet was handed out saying:
"The William Blake exhibition at the Tate Britain gallery makes it clear that Blake was a revolutionary as well as a visionary – yet bizarrely it is sponsored by one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmithKline (formerly Glaxo Wellcome). While Blake railed against poverty and oppression, GlaxoSmithKline is denying millions of African people with HIV access to drugs that could save their lives".
Most people and governments in Africa cannot afford the market price for GlaxoSmithKline's products, and the company is taking the South African government to court to prevent South Africa from making or buying abroad cheap, generic copies of anti-HIV drugs to treat patients.
The action got a very good response from visitors to the Gallery, many of whom stopped to listen to what was going on. One passer-by who joined in and read out a Blake poem told the crowd - 'the spirit of Blake is here on the steps'.
The Tate management were less sympathetic, calling the police (although there were no arrests) and banning people from going into the gallery, for the crime of reading out extracts of Blake - while inside they were charging £8 for the privelege of seeing works by the same artist.
The leaflet concluded: "In placing their logo on the art exhibitions, corporations like Glaxo Wellcome are laying claim to the creative energies of the past. In denying lifesaving drug treatments, they are demonstrating how the creative energies of all of us, including medical knowledge, are subordinated to the creation of wealth rather than the meeting of our needs".
A full report of this event, with pictures, will be posted on the Practical History website later this week: www.geocities.com/pract_history
Neil (Practical History)
e-mail:
practicalhistory@hotmail.com
