Jonathan Jones is wrong to say: “It is not true that you can cut off a source of money to museums without harming art” (Is it time for the arts to start saying no to oil money?, theguardian.com, 8 September). When that money comes from an unethical oil company such as BP, we have already harmed that art by putting our values up for sale. By turning a blind eye to BP’s close ties to regimes that violate human rights – something that breaches the gallery’s ethical fundraising policy – it was able to renew its BP sponsorship and clean up the company’s tarnished reputation. We need art and our cultural institutions to expose injustice, promote debate and create change in society. Dr Chris GarrardCulture Unstained• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

Source: The Guardian September 11, 2017 18:33 UTC