Extinction Rebellion disrupts Rijksmuseum attendance with mass no-show

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam saw significantly lower attendance Saturday after climate activist group Extinction Rebellion staged a so-called visitor strike, reserving thousands of tickets without showing up. The action was aimed at pressuring the museum to cut ties with its sponsor, Dutch bank ING, which the group accuses of funding fossil fuel projects.

A museum spokesperson confirmed that activists had likely reserved nearly all remaining tickets, leaving only a few hundred genuine visitors in the galleries. “Everything that was still available has been reserved. Only the few hundred art lovers who booked in advance have actually come. The museum is not completely empty,” the spokesperson said.

The Rijksmuseum had anticipated a busy day due to school holidays in the central and southern Netherlands. “On a day like this, we usually see about 8,000 visitors,” the spokesperson said. “XR is preventing us from carrying out our public mission.”

An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson declined to disclose exactly how many tickets had been reserved but estimated the number in the thousands. “We started a month ago and used various methods, both individually and with technical tools,” she said. She did not elaborate on the tools used. “I’d rather keep that a secret.”

The activist group claims ING is using its sponsorship to “whitewash” its financial activities. “The bank invests 72 million euros per day in oil and gas,” the XR spokesperson said.

ING dismissed the allegations as “unrealistic” and criticized the museum disruption as “going too far and unacceptable.” The bank stated it was open to dialogue but said the activists should address their concerns directly rather than targeting the Rijksmuseum.