‘No permanent damage’ to bust after protest at Kelvingrove
Conservators have cleaned and restored a marble bust of Queen Victoria that was defaced by protesters from the campaign group This Is Rigged at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum over the weekend.
The Glasgow museum was forced to close temporarily on Sunday 3 March after two protesters threw porridge and jam on the bust and spray-painted its plinth with a profanity.
This Is Rigged is a non-violent direct action group that launched in 2023 and targets the Scottish Government for what it describes as a lack of action on climate, food insecurity and the cost-of-living crisis.
The group is demanding that supermarkets slash the price of baby products, and that the Scottish government funds more community hubs and creates a fair transition for oil workers into renewables.
It is not the first time the group has targeted a cultural heritage site. Last year, This Is Rigged protesters smashed a display case containing William Wallace’s sword at the Wallace Monument in Stirling.
The group also replaced the traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington’s statue outside the Glasgow of Modern Art in Glasgow with a painted cone featuring This Is Rigged’s name and logo.
Police Scotland were called to the museum and two women aged 23 and 30 have been charged following the incident.
A police spokesperson said the women were released on an undertaking to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.
A spokesman for Glasgow Life, which runs the city’s museum service, confirmed that the 1888 bust, by the sculptor Francis John Williamson, suffered no permanent damage and remains on display.
He said: "On Police Scotland’s advice, we temporarily closed Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Sunday 3 March after protestors covered a bust of Queen Victoria in porridge and jam and spray-painted an offensive word on the plinth below the statue. Two people were subsequently arrested, and the museum reopened later in the day. Our conservation team has worked to clean and restore the bust and remove the profanity. No permanent damage was caused, and Queen Victoria remains on display.”
The protest follows similar stunts at museums and galleries by the anti-fossil fuel group Just Stop Oil, which most recently saw activists throw tomato soup at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris. The da Vinci painting is protected by bullet proof glass and was not damaged in the incident.