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V&A boss proud of funding from US family linked to opioid crisis V&A boss proud of funding from US family linked to opioid crisis
(about 3 hours later)
The director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tristram Hunt, has said he is proud that the museum has received financial support from the Sacklers, the multibillionaire family of art philanthropists accused of profiting from the US opioid crisis. The director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tristram Hunt, has mounted a strong defence of the museum’s relationship with the Sacklers, the family accused of making a profit from the US opioid crisis.
“We receive very generous support from the Sackler family and we’re grateful for that,” Hunt told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. Hunt said the London museum was proud to have received support from the family over a number of years. “We are not going to be taking names down or denying the past,” he said.
The former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central added that government cuts to art funding meant that “if we want our cultural institutions to achieve a lot, we also have to seek a broad range of funders”. The Sackler family, prolific philanthropists to arts organisations in the US and UK, own Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin. Eight family members are named in an American lawsuit accusing them of helping to create “the worst drug crisis in American history”.
Meet the Sacklers: the family feuding over blame for the opioid crisis One of those is Dame Theresa Sackler, one of the most generous arts patrons in the UK and a trustee of the V&A. The Sackler name adorns the £2m courtyard of the gallery’s Exhibition Road entrance, which opened in 2017.
The family, who own Purdue Pharma, a US company which makes the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin, have been under heightened scrutiny in recent months over the extent of their funding to museums and galleries. The Sackler family has said it will not give any more money, a decision Hunt said he respected. “We have had strong support from the Sackler family, Theresa Sackler is a trustee of the museum. I think they are reflecting on the controversy; they dispute some elements of it. They have made the decision not to give any more funds.”
The London-based branch of the family have made grants amounting to £80m to arts institutions in the capital. The V&A boasts a Sackler centre for arts education and a £2m courtyard named after the family. Hunt said big government cuts to art funding meant museums and galleries had to seek out a broad range of funders but it was a “tough environment”. Addressing journalists at the launch of its annual review he said: “You do your job, which is absolutely right, in criticising anyone who gives money to cultural institutions whilst wanting support for exhibitions.”
“We take all of these ethical issues incredibly seriously,” said Hunt. “It goes to our audit committee, we discuss it in detail.” An estimated £80m of Sackler money has been given to the arts in the UK, as well as science, health and education, and the family name appears on dozens of cultural buildings including the Sackler escalators at Tate Modern, and the Sackler Room at the National Gallery containing Constable’s The Haywain and Stubbs’ Whistlejacket.
In March, the family announced it would stop donating to cultural institutions amid a string of rejections including from New York’s Met museum and the Tate Group. Hunt said Theresa Sackler’s tenure as a trustee was due to come to a natural end in the early autumn and he strongly defended her as a fit person to serve in that role. He told the BBC: “Theresa brings a lot to the conversation in terms of her background as a primary school teacher and her focus on education. We’re proud to have been supported by the Sacklers.”
However, Dame Theresa Sackler, the widow of the former Purdue co-owner Mortimer Sackler, still sits on the V&A’s board of trustees. In March Theresa Sackler announced that the Sackler Trust and the Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation were suspending all new charitable giving in the UK, saying that there was a danger of it being a “distraction” for the bodies the foundation supported.
When questioned about the appropriateness of her status, Hunt insisted Sackler was fit to be a trustee and emphasised that the family dispute many of the lawsuits brought against them.
“Theresa brings a lot to the conversation in terms of her background as a primary school teacher and her focus on education,” he said.
In March Theresa Sackler announced that the Sackler Trust and the Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation were suspending all new charitable giving in the UK, saying that there was a danger of being a “distraction” for the bodies they support.
In a statement on behalf of the Sackler Trust trustees she said: “I am deeply saddened by the addiction crisis in America and support the actions Purdue Pharma is taking to help tackle the situation, whilst still rejecting the false allegations made against the company and several members of the Sackler family.”In a statement on behalf of the Sackler Trust trustees she said: “I am deeply saddened by the addiction crisis in America and support the actions Purdue Pharma is taking to help tackle the situation, whilst still rejecting the false allegations made against the company and several members of the Sackler family.”
On Tuesday Hunt said he respected the family’s decision not to donate funds in the future. “We’re proud to have been supported by the Sacklers,” he added.
Purdue is facing lawsuits from nearly every US state over the role of OxyContin in the deadly opioid crisis.Purdue is facing lawsuits from nearly every US state over the role of OxyContin in the deadly opioid crisis.
In 2007, the company was fined for marketing OxyContin “with intent to defraud or mislead” regulators.In 2007, the company was fined for marketing OxyContin “with intent to defraud or mislead” regulators.
Drug overdoses kill more than 72,000 people in the US each year. About 49,000 deaths are caused by opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers such as fentanyl.Drug overdoses kill more than 72,000 people in the US each year. About 49,000 deaths are caused by opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers such as fentanyl.
In recent months, the US photographer Nan Goldin has been on the frontline of protests to campaign against links between art institutions and the Sacklers. Goldin became addicted to OxyContin after being prescribed it for tendinitis in 2014.In recent months, the US photographer Nan Goldin has been on the frontline of protests to campaign against links between art institutions and the Sacklers. Goldin became addicted to OxyContin after being prescribed it for tendinitis in 2014.
Hunt, 45, became the museum’s director in 2017 after formally resigning as an MP. He presented history documentaries for the BBC before beginning his political career.
Purdue Pharma denies any wrongdoing, as do the Sackler family members named in recent cases.Purdue Pharma denies any wrongdoing, as do the Sackler family members named in recent cases.
The controversy was aired as the museum looked forward to 2020, announcing an exhibition programme which will include shows exploring the kimono, Renaissance watercolours, Alice in Wonderland, and the cultural history of Iran.
The Iran exhibition, due to open in October, comes as tensions continue to mount between Iran and the US. Last month Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on the regime.
Hunt said curators had been involved in close discussions with Iran’s embassy in London and was working with the Tehran national museum on loans. “It’s not easy, not in terms of cultural relations … but the landscape is not easy. Every week it becomes more challenging but in a sense that means every week it is more important to do.”
He said it became more valuable as an exhibition as the militaristic language was ramped up.
Less tricky will be a show opening in April which promises to be the biggest exhibition ever devoted to bags. It will include more than 300 objects from the 16th century to today, including tiny finger purses, big travelling trunks, rucksacks, Birkin bags and Louis Vuitton luggage. One of Margaret Thatcher’s handbags is expected as a loan.
“It’s very V&A,” said Hunt, a leather briefcase carrier. “It’s material culture, it’s international, east and west, it’s craft, it’s beauty but also there is a very interesting social history there as well.”
Meet the Sacklers: the family feuding over blame for the opioid crisis
V&AV&A
Tristram HuntTristram Hunt
Opioids crisisOpioids crisis
MuseumsMuseums
LondonLondon
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