Protests have erupted at the Louvre in Paris by Artist Nan Goldin and her P.A.I.N Group and they are demanding the removal of Sackler name from one of Louvre’s wings. Along with Nan Goldin’s group, other opioid activists have also joined in staging protests.
Now, you would be wanting to know more details about why the protests are happening. So the reason is that the protestors are accusing the Sackler group and their company Purdue Pharma of trigerring and even fuelling the opioid crisis in the US. This is because they sold the painkiller OxyContin which is the main reason behind this crisis.
Now, these protests were held at the swimming pool next to museum’s glass pyramid which has now become iconic. The protestors displayed a banner which read “TAKE DOWN THE SACKLER NAME”. Apart from the banner, the protestors also staged a “die-in” protest which involves collapsing on the ground inside the building to show a sign of death possibly due to the opioid crisis.
However, this is not the first time that protests have been organized at Museums around the world. Recently, protests were also held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others that have also been funded by Sackler family demanding the removal of Sackler name.
Here is what Dan Goldin’s P.A.I.N. group said on Instagram regarding the protests:
“We demand that the Louvre rename the Sackler wing and commit to refusing any criminal donations in the future, The opioid crisis has also hit France, through the actions of the same pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma—via Mundipharma, its international branch, also owned by the Sackler family.”
On the other hand, Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma has rubbished the accusations against them of igniting the opioid crisis in the United States due to sales of OxyContin who say that they are not to blame.
