Environmental activists protested at the KMSKA, Antwerp’s Fine Arts Museum, on Sunday. The protesters are unhappy about sponsorship of the museum by French oil and gas producer TotalEnergies. They call themselves the ‘Rubens-fans’ and sang protest songs. They believe the museum is helping the company to polish up its image. The museum says it needs sponsorship and that it does, in fact, adhere to a code of ethics.
“Look at this painting that’s been restored by Total – KMSKA, this really isn’t on,” several environmental activists inside the museum shouted on Sunday. They criticise the KMSKA for accepting money from TotalEnergies in order to restore paintings.
“In this way, the museum is allowing itself to be used to boost the oil giant’s dubious reputation,” they say. Among other things, they point out that TotalEnergies has been found jointly liable for global warming.
‘Bribery and negligent environmental policy’
‘For decades, the French oil company has been guilty of bribery and negligent environmental policy and has been convicted in court for these offences. Furthermore, TotalEnergies intimidates critics by taking legal action against them.’
‘For example, in 2023, the company took Greenpeace to court after the environmental organisation had revealed that in reports TotalEnergies systematically underestimated its own emissions. In October 2025, however, Greenpeace was vindicated and a French court found the company guilty of greenwashing on account of deliberately misleading consumers about its emissions and climate targets.’
Funding needed
“We have indeed been working with TotalEnergies and many other parties since 2023 to restore a fantastic masterpiece by Rubens,” says Carmen Willems, director of the KMSKA. “At present, the KMSKA receives no government funding for restoration projects. Nevertheless, we are carrying out a number of them, all of which are entirely privately funded.”
“It is already very difficult just to keep a museum running, and these pieces are really in need of restoration. That is why we have launched a major campaign in which we have asked a number of companies to support us in this endeavour.”
According to Willems, TotalEnergies also meets the criteria for sponsorship. “It is a listed company and is required to report transparently and openly on the impact of its activities on people and the environment. In international rankings, it scores significantly higher than its competitors in its sector in terms of environmental policy and climate targets.”
This was not the first time that campaigners had criticised TotalEnergies’ sponsorship. The museum invited the campaigners, as it had done previously, to a meeting. “We will clearly explain our considerations regarding sponsorship policy. As a museum, we adhere to the code of ethics on sponsorship. But the campaigners never accepted our invitation.”