PROTESTERS have pasted a photograph of a Palestinian mother and child over a Picasso painting at the National Gallery in London, as they called for a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
Activists from Youth Demand poured red paint on the floor after targeting the artwork on Wednesday afternoon.
The campaign group pasted the photo, which was taken by Palestinian journalist Jadallah in 2023 and shows a mother holding her injured son – both of whom are covered in debris – over the protective glass covering Picasso’s 1901 painting Motherhood (La Maternité).
A National Gallery spokesperson confirmed no damage had been done to any of the paintings in the room but that the room was closed to the public following the incident.
Youth Demand, which has called on the UK to stop arming Israel, previously painted the words “genocide conference” at the front entrance of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last month.
The group said on Twitter/X: “Under Picasso’s Motherhood, paint as red as the blood on the UK Government’s hands is poured onto the floor.”
🚨 NATIONAL GALLERY PAINTED RED 🎨 Under Picasso's 'Motherhood', paint as red as the blood on the UK government's hands is poured onto the floor. 📢 Young people will be disrupting in their cities from Nov 11. Be there: https://t.co/rqU3OswTSi pic.twitter.com/PRbaf76W97
— Youth Demand (@youth_demand) October 9, 2024
During the protest, an activist was filmed sitting on the floor of the gallery after pouring red paint on it, saying: “The UK is complicit in genocide.
“Weapons being manufactured in the UK are being used to kill Palestinian children, their mothers and entire families. All your taxes are being used to kill entire families.”
One of those allegedly taking action was Jai Halai, 23, an NHS worker from London who said: “I’m taking action with Youth Demand because at this point it’s been over one year of seeing my colleagues in the healthcare field decimated.
“Decimated by bombs, by bullets and by having to operate, with no medical equipment, on starved children.
“We need a two-way arms embargo on Israel now; 87% of the British public want this and never before have they been more disillusioned with our Government and political class who do not represent us. We need a revolution in our democracy.
“Direct action is what gave us our rights and is the only way to move us towards proper justice. Civil resistance is our duty as young people: to defend those without a voice today and to defend our futures. It’s time to take to the streets; bring on the revolution!”
Also taking part was Monday-Malachi Rosenfeld, 21, a student at Greenwich University, who said she was taking action to call out the “genocide” being committed in Gaza.
Last month, three Just Stop Oil supporters threw soup on two of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings at the National Gallery.
Two activists were jailed for two years and 20 months each after pouring soup over van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting, causing approximately £10,000 in damage to the artwork’s frame.
