Extinction Rebellion activists protest against private jets at Maastricht art convention

A group of Extinction Rebellion climate activists demonstrated in front of the convention building MECC in Maastricht on Thursday. The art and antique convention TEFAF is scheduled to begin there this weekend. Police stepped in to end their protest after they refused to leave. The demonstrators were put in a van and taken away, just as is the case during the protests on the A12 in The Hague.

The demonstrators actually wanted to demonstrate at Maastricht Aachen Airport, to bring attention to the high number of private jets that land there these days to bring visitors to the renowned art convention. However, this was not possible because the municipality had prohibited protests with an emergency ordinance and the protesters were sent away.

Around 20 activists with banners and flags then tried to block a driveway in the MECC parking lot. “Stop unnecessary aviation, stop private jets,” one banner read.

A spokesperson for the group said that they did not want to stop everyone, but they did want to stop the people that they thought came into the country on a private jet. “They arrive by taxi.”

Everybody who wanted to enter the building was still able to do so via other routes, according to a reporter from the ANP. Although the demonstration was peaceful for the rest of the day, police were ordered to end it after a certain time had passed. The officers urged the activists to leave. Those that would not leave were put in a police van.

The TEFAF will open to most of the crowd on Saturday, but there are already many exhibitors, employees, journalists and guests walking around.

One of the sensations at the art convention is expected to be a portrait of a black man made by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. The work is offered on behalf of private owners. For almost a century, hardly anyone could see it. Its existence was also virtually unknown.

The portret from 1897 is particularly special because the person portrayed, as was often the case at the time, was temporarily exhibited in Vienna at an exotic exhibition. The subject is the former Ghanaian Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona.