Fresh doubts raised over future BP funding of British Museum

Museum says no talks took place between October 2021 and December 2022 and most recent deal has ended

Further questions have been raised about the future of the British Museum’s controversial sponsorship deal with BP, after the museum said the two parties had no meetings or correspondence about renewing their funding arrangement for more than a year before their most recent contract expired.

The museum’s Hieroglyphs exhibition, which ended last week, was the final BP-sponsored show in the latest five-year contract between the energy company and the museum; according to its terms, that commercial partnership has now ended. No renewal or extension of the funding deal, first forged 27 years ago, has been announced by either party.