15 or so folk from all over Carbon Town gathered today to sing a
new hymn of hope to an oil-free future in the co-opted cathedral
that is the Unnatural History Museum, where the heartbreakingly
beautiful Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has
just opened.
Here are the words we sang:
'there’s a bird dressed in black
there’s a world nearly cracked
there is me, there is you
what the hell shall we do?
it’s not hard to explain
all the ways we can gain
from a world without oil
no more spills, no more spoils'
On the line 'what the hell shall we do?', various possibilities
were hollered, including 'Say no to Shell', 'Go beyond oil' and
'Start anew', as was the statement that 'Shell sells suicide on the
forecourt'. A couple of noisy singers were hustled out fast, (one
being told 'If you don't walk, I'll break your arm!'), while those
left behind kept up the tune, its notes floating up past the
dinosaur skeleton and the long, curling Shell Wildlife queue to
take up residence in the rafters above.
Gradually they were removed, gathering again on the pavement
outside with images from the Shell's Wild Lie exhibition, a
Remember Saro-Wiwa banner and more songs, including 'A Drunken
Climate', 'None of Us Are Free', '(War For) Oil' and a song to the
Niger Delta. Spirits were high, and responses from the
(predominantly non-English speaking?) public few and far between
but lovely and heart-warming when they came. No one was arrested;
no police were present.
It still looks as if the campaign to get Shell kicked out as
sponsor might bear fruit - we'll find out very soon if its 2 year
contract will be renewed. Let's keep the pressure up!
Keep hollering,
Noisy Joe
PS. As well as helping to build a new world in the heart of this
rotted out system, you could also try contacting the NHM to tell it
what you think of Shell (not to mention BP, which is a Museum
partner): (020) 7942 5000; NHM boss Michael Dixon:
m.dixon@nhm.ac.uk, cc’ing to feedback@nhm.ac.uk &
info@artnotoil.org.uk
Please also send a message or letter to exhibition partner BBC
Widlife magazine: Sophie Stafford (editor), Letters, BBC Wildlife
Magazine, 14th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN.
e-mail: wildlifeletters@bbcmagazinesbristol.com
PPS. There's a group of people coming together to use music and
singing as a way to lift spirits, highlight climatic criminality
and reach people who for whatever reason aren't engaging with the
enormity of the current SOS. Future plans include performing at the
opening of the Climate Camp exhibition at the Foundry next Tuesday,
damming more oily greenwash in some of the many outlets it has
around Carbon Town, processing & hollering on the climate demo on
December 8th, and being part of the Fossil Fools Global Day of
Action on April 1st 2008. We're on the lookout for singers,
performers, would-be singers, musicians and makers of strange and
beautiful objects to process with.
For more information, email ecstaticmourning@riseup.net'
