Geraldine Kendall Adams, ‘Relentless negativity’ around sponsorship must end, say national museums, Museums Association, 5 June 2025

Open letter from cultural organisations defends use of corporate money in arts and culture.

Several national museums in England have signed an open letter defending the use of corporate sponsorship in the culture sector.

The British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), National Gallery and Science Museum Group all gave their backing to a letter this week calling for an end to the “relentless negativity” around private money in the arts.

The letter, which was written by the co-CEOs of Sadler’s Wells dance organisation and published in the Financial Times, comes a year after the asset management company Baillie Gifford cancelled all of its sponsorship deals with literary festivals after writers threatened to boycott the events over the firm’s fossil fuel investments and perceived links with Israel.

“Last year was a watershed moment for discussion about private money and the arts, beginning in May when Baillie Gifford was pushed out of its partnerships with literary festivals, following a sustained campaign by activist groups,” the letter says.

“As culture secretary Lisa Nandy argued in her Jennie Lee Lecture, such relentless negativity has the potential for ‘killing off’ arts and culture in the UK.”

The letter said that, across the arts and culture sector, “it is perhaps not well understood that working in partnership with businesses is a proactive choice”.

“Corporate sponsorship can never provide a replacement for public funding,” the letter continued. “However, partnering with businesses ensures our work goes further and has a greater impact. It adds more value and enables growth, ambition and risk taking.

“Through partnerships, arts organisations also actively engage with the organisations that shape how we live. We never forget these businesses are made up of real people, engaged in real communities, who understand and believe in the power of the arts to bring joy, aspiration and change to our lives.”

The letter said that museums, theatres, festivals and artists “need to operate within the economic structures in which society operates”.

“One year on from Baillie Gifford, we must find a way to show that cultural organisations contribute to a better world, and partnership with business and philanthropy is an admirable and valuable part of that mission,” it said.

Some of the national museums that signed the letter have faced ongoing protests and criticism over the past decade as a result of their partnerships with the fossil fuel industry. The British Museum currently has a £50m deal with BP to support the museum’s ongoing redevelopment.

The Science Museum Group ended its partnership with the Norwegian oil firm Equinor last year over the company’s failure to meet climate targets, but has an ongoing relationship with Adani Green Energy, one of six companies in the Adani Group, which also has significant interests in coal and arms production.

Campaign groups argue that some private companies use arts and culture sponsorship as a means of whitewashing their image and deflecting from criticism of their business practices.