Two Extinction Rebellion activists glued themselves to a prized Pablo Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria to draw attention to environmental causes ahead of the state election next month.
The protesters – who were arrested and later released without charges being laid – used superglue on Sunday to attach themselves to Picasso’s Massacre in Korea, which was on loan to the gallery as part of its Picasso Century exhibition. The NGV said in a statement the artwork, which was protected by a perspex glazing, was not harmed.
The climate activist group said it targeted the 1951 anti-war expressionist painting to urge all governments, corporations and institutions to take action on the global environmental crisis.
Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Brad Homewood said the group “knew we could do this action without damaging the artwork itself. Our intention was always to glue on to the perspex protecting it.”
A conservator from the gallery used acetone to dissolve the superglue used by the protesters, Homewood said.
Footage posted to social media shows protesters yelling and security guards near the painting. The protesters stand by a sign reading “climate chaos = war and famine” while one of the activists yells, “stop coal, stop gas, stop oil, stop logging”.
Retired teacher and activist Tony Gleeson, who was one of the protesters who glued himself to the painting, said in a statement the Picasso work represented the suffering of war.
“We need to be thinking about how this type of suffering will increase and how the societal breakdown that scientists are telling us is coming will eventually put us all in the firing line,” he said.
“There are no actions too extreme to take at this moment to draw attention to the urgency of fixing this problem now.”
A Victoria police spokesperson said it believed three protesters entered the gallery on the ground level before a man and a woman glued themselves to the protective covering of the Picasso painting.
The spokesperson said a 49-year-old NSW woman and a 59-year-old Footscray man were removed from the painting just after 2pm.
“The pair and a 49-year-old Williamstown man have been arrested and are assisting police with their inquiries,” the spokesperson said.
They were later released without charge, police said.
In a statement, the NGV said its Picasso Century exhibit was briefly closed to the public after police were called to the scene.
“The protesters’ hands were safely removed from the perspex with no harm to the work,” the gallery said. “Police escorted the protesters off the premises and the exhibition space was reopened to the public by 2.30pm.”
Ahead of the Victorian election, Extinction Rebellion said it would undertake two weeks of protest activity – dubbed a “spring rebellion” – to call for the end of coal, gas and oil projects in the state and no further native logging.
