Platform London is an interdisciplinary London-based art and campaigning collective founded in 1983 that creates projects with

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

themes. Platform describes itself as "bringing together environmentalists, artists, human rights campaigners, educationalists and community activists to create innovative projects driven by the need for social and environmental justice. This interdisciplinary approach combines the transformatory power of art with the tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with the vision to promote alternative futures." A 1992 project by Platform sparked a local campaign to dig up the River Effra in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Their ongoing research into the political economy of oil is called the Unraveling the Carbon Web. Platform has written several books tracking the oil industry, including ''The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London'' published by

Verso Books Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review'' (NLR) and includes Tariq Ali and Perry Anderson on its board of directors. According to its webs ...

in 2013 and ''The Next Gulf: Britain, the USA and the politics of oil in the Gulf of Guinea'' published in 2005 by Constable & Robinson. ''Some Common Concerns - Imagining BP’s Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Pipelines'' was released in October 2002. Past work has included a campaign against the proposed oil law in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, a series of performances about BP and climate change for oil analysts and journalists, a living memorial to the Nigerian activist

Ken Saro-Wiwa Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerians, Nigerian writer, teacher, television producer, and social rights activist. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland ...

, a book exploring the psychology of those who work within major corporations, and a campaign to stop the Royal Bank of Scotland being the major European private financier of oil and gas. Platform is in a long-running argument with the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

over its sponsorship by BP, describing it as "a serious stain on the UK's cultural patrimony". Some artists with work in the Tate have backed Platform's opposition to BP, including Conrad Atkinson. Art critic Jonathan Jones opposed Platform's demands: "If they can get money from Satan himself they should take it." Interviewed during BP's

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum in ...

, Tate Director Nicholas Serota explained "We look for long-term partners and one of those long-term partners is BP. They have been with us for 20 years. We all recognise they have a difficulty at the moment but you don't abandon your friends because they have what we consider to be a temporary difficulty." A "Living Memorial" to

was unveiled in

on 10 November 2006 by Platform, on the 11th anniversary of his execution. Created by Nigerian-born artist Sokari Douglas Camp, it consists of a steel sculpture of a bus with Saro-Wiwa's words inscribed in the side: "I accuse the oil companies of genocide against the Ogoni". It has toured England, visiting the

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

headquarters and Glastonbury. In 2006, with funding from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

, they produced
And While London Burns
', a downloadable operatic tour of the financial district within the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

which examines the impact of business on climate change.

Key works

Still Waters Project The Carbon Web Licence to Spill

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{reflist, 2Thomas Ardill (1992) ''Wet and Buried.'' Platform for the ''‘Still Waters Project’'' (Pages 18-19) nlineMuseum of London Docklands Secret Rivers: Revealing the history of London’s Rivers - Digital Catalogue Available from https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/application/files/7415/7494/3702/Secret-rivers-digital-catalogue.pdf Retrieved 16.03.23

External links

Official website

And While London Burns

Remember Saro-Wiwa
British artist groups and collectives Writers from London Environmental organisations based in London Climate change organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1983