Rijksmuseum to close during Museum Night after Extinction Rebellion announces protest

The Rijksmuseum will not be participating in the Museum Night event because Extinction Rebellion (XR) has announced a protest action in the museum. The Rijksmuseum announced that they feel forced to keep the doors closed during the event “considering the threat to the safety of the public, staff, and art.”

Extinction Rebellion announced on Wednesday their intention to carry out a “secret action” at the Rijksmuseum during the annual late-night cultural event. “Governments and large companies must do everything in their power to reduce emissions to zero immediately. It is, therefore, incomprehensible that the Rijksmuseum has chosen to maintain its sponsorship relationship with major polluter ING,” said XR spokesperson Merlijn Runia.

The protest group claims the bank’s sponsorship of the museum is a form of “artwashing” that distracts from the bank’s funding of fossil fuel projects and businesses. “ING finances the fossil industry with billions annually, and is therefore partly responsible for climate disasters, tens of thousands of deaths, and millions of other victims.” They are demanding that Rijkmuseum ends their ING sponsorship immediately.

XR’s plan was set to be carried out by 45 people. It would have been the seventh time that the activists protested at the Rijksmuseum.

The Rijksmuseum would not say whether it was aware of the nature of the action and what the threat to visitors and staff might be.