The Hell Bus – a satirical anti-Shell greenwashing exhibition

Anti-Shell Greenwashing Exhibition ‘The Hell Bus’ Comes to London, as seen on Channel 4's 'Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant'

After appearing at COP26 and featuring in the Channel 4 documentary ‘Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant’, Lewisham-based artist Darren Cullen has now opened his bus-based, satirical anti-Shell exhibition The Hell Bus, at the Museum of Neoliberalism in Lewisham’s Leegate Shopping Centre.

The darkly comedic exhibition attempts to draw attention to the hollow promises of oil companies that claim to be working towards ‘Net Zero’ while at the same time expanding their extraction of oil and gas reserves.

Installed in a single decker bus and laid out like a cross between a museum and a marketing stand, the artist claims The Hell Bus “satirises the absurdity of flimsy oil company greenwashing in a time of climate breakdown”. Featuring interactive dioramas, illustrations and short animations. The exhibition, which is open every weekend until June, is free to visit by booking a timeslot at the Museum of Neoliberalism’s website.

“The exhibition attempts to draw out the absurdity of oil company claims that they’re part of the solution to global warming while they extract and burn increasing amounts of fossil fuels.” says Cullen, “Inside the Hell Bus you’ll be presented with hair-brained schemes to run whaling ships on biofuel, or creating polystyrene icebergs to replace those lost to global warming. The problem is that it’s difficult to work out what is satire and what is a genuine oil company proposal,” adding that “The show is a fun but brutal take on fossil fuel propaganda and its consequences.”

Cullen, a 38 year old London-based artist from Leeds, is best known for Pocket Money Loans, a payday loan shop for kids which featured at Banksy’s Dismaland. In 2018 Shell sent him a legal threat regarding his work about the company.

More details of the bus and exhibition can be found at royaldutchhell.com.

Free tickets can be booked at museumofneoliberalism.com