Activists are attacking art again.
A few days after the Mona Lisa was doused with soup by two environmental activists at the Louvre Museum, two activists from the Animal Rebellion movement in Italy sprayed a lion statue in Rome with washable paint on Thursday February 1 to protest against the presence of animals in circuses, noted AFP.
“Animals in circuses, that’s enough,” proclaimed a banner displayed in front of the statue in Piazza del Popolo, in the center of the Italian capital.
Piazza del Popolo ora #Roma pic.twitter.com/4YGaSOWD2i
— Domenico Marocchi (@domenicomarock) February 1, 2024
This action “opens the Kimba campaign”, named after a lion which escaped in November for several hours from a circus in Ladispoli, a coastal town near Rome, Animal Rebellion said in a press release.
The association advocates “non-violent direct action to obtain the abolition of the use of non-human animals in circuses and their liberation”.
Up to 40,000 euros fine
Arrested by the Italian carabinieri according to images posted on social networks, the two activists face fines of up to 40,000 euros.
The traces of yellow and red paint delighted tourists and other curious people visiting this central square of Rome who took the opportunity to take numerous photos and even take selfies, while the perimeter around the statue was protected by the forces of the order.
Also read: The Mona Lisa doused with soup by environmental activists at the Louvre
In recent years, spectacular ways of demonstrating have multiplied in many museums and cultural institutions.
In October 2022, two young women posing as ecological activists threw tomato soup on Van Gogh's painting “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery in London.
Other activists have also glued their hands to works on several occasions as well as tied themselves to football goal posts or tennis nets during sporting events.