The V&A Dundee is facing mounting pressure to return philanthropic donations tainted by opioid profits. The museum has reportedly received a £500,000 grant linked to the Sackler family, who, as the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, have been embroiled in controversy for their role in fueling the opioid crisis.
The Sacklers have been active philanthropic donors, giving hefty financial support to a number of prominent art institutions such as the Met, the Guggenheim, the Louvre, the Tate, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and now the one in Dundee as well.
Debates on how organizations should handle donations have escalated in recent months with many beneficiaries feeling the pain. Last month, protests were held at both the Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art demanding the institutions distance themselves from questionable funding sources and remove the Sackler name from their buildings.
The V&A Dundee is among the list of high-profile institutions to be met with similar pressures as local politicians demand the museum return charitable gifts made via the Sackler Trust.
The museum opened in September amidst expectations that the new cultural institution will help rejuvenate the city of Dundee, an industrial town with a cemented reputation as the “drug death capital of Europe." The museum is also associated with the famous Victoria & Albert name, whose London outfit unveiled a big new courtyard named after the Sackler's last year.
2 Comments
Return the donation? Screw that - donate the money to drug rehabilitation services rather than giving it back to the people who profit on human misery.
The museum doesn't want to let go of the $500 for any reason.
Asking the donation back ?
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