In a bid to intensify their campaign for a national firefighting service, a climate protester took dramatic action on Tuesday by splattering paint on a Tom Thomson artwork exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada.
This act was carried out by a member of the activist group On2Ottawa, which has been intermittently disrupting traffic in Ottawa throughout the month. The targeted artwork was Tom Thomson’s “Northern River,” created between 1914 and 1915. A video, shared by the group on Instagram, captures a member applying pink paint to the protective glass covering the oil-on-canvas painting. Subsequently, the protester affixed themselves to the floor in a symbolic protest.
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In an official statement, the National Gallery of Canada has confirmed that the Tom Thomson painting was not damaged during the incident. The gallery stated, “An individual, who is unknown to the National Gallery of Canada, attempted to deface Tom Thomson’s Northern River, 1915, on view at the Gallery. Fortunately, the artwork was not harmed during the incident. The Gallery immediately implemented security protocols and the Ottawa Police Service arrested the individual. The work was displayed in a protective glazed panel and has been taken out from display for further evaluation. We expect it will be rehung shortly.”
The On2Ottawa group is advocating for the establishment of a federal firefighting agency comprising 50,000 members to address forest fires in Canada. This demand comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented wildfire season, which has seen more than 15 million hectares of land engulfed by flames this year, leading to numerous evacuations, property damage, and smoke-filled skies across North America.
Kaleb Suedfeld, the individual who splashed pink paint on the artwork, emphasized, “What’s more important, these pictures of landscapes, these beautiful pictures by a Canadian artist, or the landscape they painted? How much longer are we going to allow our governments to be beholden to the whims of the fossil fuel industry?”
In a news release issued immediately after the incident, On2Ottawa stated that the pink paint used was washable.
The group defines itself as a “nonviolent civil disobedience campaign focused on the creation of a National Firefighting Agency” and has pledged to continue causing “further disruption in the capital” for another week and a half. The group has been involved in previous protests, including an incident earlier this year when a topless protester disrupted the Juno Awards ceremony. The same protester later splashed paint on the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa and handcuffed herself to the entrance before being apprehended.
So far, 11 members of the group have been arrested and charged with 34 offenses related to the recent traffic protests in the capital.
Ottawa police have indicated that Suedfeld is facing a mischief charge in connection with the National Gallery incident, with the possibility of additional charges.
The National Gallery of Canada has stated that it is cooperating with the police investigation and will refrain from providing further comments at this time.
Experts have previously advocated for the establishment of a national firefighting agency in Canada, arguing that it could alleviate the strain on provincial firefighting services and reduce the reliance on foreign aid. This year, firefighters from other countries and members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to the hardest-hit areas in Canada to assist in battling wildfires.
Climate protesters in other countries have also targeted artworks in efforts to draw attention to their cause. In London last year, protesters affixed themselves to paintings and even splashed soup on Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery. In Oslo, demonstrators attempted to glue themselves to Edvard Munch’s iconic painting “The Scream,” although their efforts were unsuccessful.