George Osborne, the museum’s president, announced the move on Twitter, saying: “We are entering a new era, presenting our large collection in different ways to new audiences.” For decades the Sackler name has been associated with generous charitable donations to galleries and museums in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. However, in recent years it has become toxic, with the family being accused of profiting from the opioid crisis in the US. The Mackimer and Raymond branches of the Sackler family belonged to Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, which played a central role in what has been described as “the worst drug crisis in American history.” Osborne said the museum had reached an agreement with the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Foundation to remove the Sackler name from all the galleries, rooms and donations they had made. This includes the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Galleries of the Ancient Levant, which opened in 1998 and contain treasures from an area corresponding to modern-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and western Syria. It also had “Sackler Rooms” available for commercial rental. The Sackler money laundering campaign has been spearheaded by American art photographer and activist Nan Goldin, founder of the Pain (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) campaign team. He had a number of notable successes. Tate announced in 2019 that it will no longer receive donations from the Sackler family. Last month, it was reported that a “Sackler escalator” sign had been removed and a “Sackler lifts” sign had been removed. The Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London Kensington Gardens, which opened in 2013, was renamed the Serpentine North Gallery last year. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris are among the many galleries that have moved to distance themselves from the Sackler name. In a statement, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation said it had long admired the work of the British Museum. He wrote: “As the museum develops a new master plan to transform for the future, we believe this decision comes at a unique time in the museum’s evolution.” Osborne said: “The British Museum is grateful for the foundation’s previous support and the administrators appreciate their cooperation in reaching this agreement as we now move the museum into a new era and present our incredible collections in different ways to new audiences. ». The museum said it had received money from Sackler from the late 1990s to 2013. There were no plans, he added, to remove other names or reconsider relationships with other donors.
