One hit operation. Two climate activists glued their hands to the plexiglass protection of Pablo Picasso’s “Massacre in Korea” painting on display at a museum in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, police, protesters and the museum said.
The paint was not damaged. Images posted on social media by the Extinction Rebellion movement showed activists dressed in black, their hands resting on work displayed in a room at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
activists arrested
A man wearing a T-shirt bearing the Extinction Rebellion symbol, an hourglass surrounded by a circle, stood near them. A black banner had been unfurled at his feet, with the slogan “Climate Chaos = War + Famine.”
“The three protesters apparently entered through the ground floor (of the museum) before a man and a woman pressed against the protection of the Picasso painting,” a Victoria state police spokeswoman said.
The protesters, a 49-year-old woman from New South Wales and a 59-year-old man from Melbourne, were “erased from the picture” more than an hour after they allegedly began their action, police said.
The two people, along with a 49-year-old Melbourne man, “have been arrested and are assisting police in their investigation,” it added.
Police later said they had been released “pending further investigation”. For its part, the museum said it called police and closed the exhibit to the public during the incident.
“The protesters’ hands were removed from the plexiglass safely and without damaging the artwork,” said a spokesman for the National Gallery of Victoria.
Pablo Picasso’s work, made in 1951, “shows the horrors of war,” Extinction Rebellion Victoria commented on its Facebook page.
“The deterioration of the climate will lead to an increase in conflicts in the world. Now is the time for each and every institution to stand up and act!” the organization pleaded.
The painting, kept in the Picasso Museum in Paris, was exhibited in Melbourne on the last day of the “The Century of Picasso” exhibition.
Source: BFM TV
