Extinction Rebellion holds climate protest in Netherlands next to Rembrandt painting
- Dutch arm of activist group protested by The Night Watch in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum; group says museum is still sponsoring fossil fuel industry
- Replica of famous picture shows watchmen submerged in water, a nod to slogan: ‘there is no art on a flooded planet’
The Netherlands arm of climate activist group Extinction Rebellion protested on Sunday next to Rembrandt’s painting The Night Watch in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Two of the protesters held up a replica of the famous picture – created in the 1600s – in which the night watchmen depicted in the original artwork appear to be submerged in water, a nod to the group’s slogan: “There is no art on a flooded planet”.
“The science is clear, we can no longer escape it: the earth is warming up, the sea level is rising and the weather is becoming more and more extreme. It is obvious that this is due to the fossil industry, an industry that the Rijksmuseum is still sponsoring,” said 19-year-old protester Yara, referring to the museum’s partnerships with airline KLM and bank ING.
Ten protesters, aged between 15 and 22 years old, wore T-shirts emblazoned with climate slogans, while some of their parents and grandparents stood nearby in support.
A spokesperson for Rijksmuseum told Dutch press agency ANP that the protest did not cause any damage to The Night Watch and that the protesters were escorted outside without incident.
The activist network, formed in the UK in 2018, has regularly used civil disobedience to protest against what it calls government inaction on climate change.