EXCLUSIVE: Help! Climate change campaigners SHUT DOWN Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney's...
Over a dozen climate protesters equipped with wigs and a large yellow banner took to the exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery today in protest of Bank of America. The group targeted the exhibit in , which shows never-before-seen photos taken by the legendary musician. Protesters changed the lyrics to popular songs and some dressed as makeshift versions of the band members. Visitors of the gallery were promptly shooed out, while campaigners could still be heard singing behind closed doors. The whole incident reportedly lasted for 45 minutes, before visitors were allowed back inside and the gallery resumed as normal. Adapting the lyrics to the song 'Help!', the protesters can be heard chanting: 'We'll fight against climate change and oil in any way.' The new lyrics seemed to have been printed on an A4 piece of paper, the back of which read: 'Fossil free London'. The campaigners were quickly taken behind a screen by security, while a spokesperson attempted to argue their case before a crowd. He shouted: 'We love this art, we think it should be here for everyone to enjoy and it should not be used to justify the climate activities of Bank of America. 'We think the values of these songs should be about preserving the planet. 'Shame on the National Gallery for taking the oily money of Bank of America. 'We'll fight against climate change and oil in any way.' Speaking to MailOnline, a National Portrait Gallery spokesperson said: 'This afternoon, members of a climate protest group demonstrated by singing songs within the Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm exhibition. 'The exhibition was temporarily closed for around 20 minutes. In line with our security procedures, the Gallery contacted the Police who arrived and led the protesters out of the building. 'No exhibition photographs were targeted during the protest. Visitors who experienced disruption were compensated with replacement exhibition tickets.' It comes just months after the Gallery's reopening this year, in June which is supported by Bank of America alongside Bloomberg Philanthropies, CHANEL Culture Fund, Herbert Smith Freehills and Taylor Wessing. The exhibit, named Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm opened exactly 2 months ago and will run until Sunday, 1 October. It is described as 'an extraordinary archive of rediscovered and never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney,' and is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The exhibit was and attended by Paul McCartney himself. The website says it is 'uniquely personal' and offers some perspective on 'what it was like to be a Beatle at the start of Beatlemania,' through the eyes of Paul McCartney. The exhibit was launched shortly after its first exhibition 'Yevonde: Life and Colour', which lasts until Sunday, 15 October. Two more exhibits will be shown this year, including 'David Hockney: Drawing from Life' and 'Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize', while a further two await in 2024. This is not the first time the National Portrait Gallery has been targeted. A year prior to its temporary closure in June 2020, covered themselves in fake oil in protest against its sponsorship by BP. Topless activists curled up in a foetal position as others coated themselves in the 'oil' in front of a BP-sponsored art display. The unauthorised stunt capped a two-week wave of actions by the civil disobedience movement, which led to more than 3,300 arrests in London and cities around the world, the group said.