Artists Brian Teeling and Emma Roche have removed their work from its place in the National Gallery of Ireland to protest the newly-contracted cafe agreement with Aramark, a US corporation who runs Direct Provision centres.

Both creatives were among the 24 artists shortlisted for last year’s Zurich Portrait Prize. Roche and Teeling withdrew their artworks over the gallery’s support for a company that “profits from direct provision”, a system for accommodating asylum seekers.

Aramark operates three Direct Provision centres for the Irish State in Cork, Clare and Westmeath and has commercial interests in the US prison system. It has previously been boycotted by students at campuses in Trinity College, University College Dublin and the University of Limerick.

The company took over running the gallery’s cafe on 14 February, in addition to a seasonal outdoor unit and services for externally catered events, following a tender process, the Journal.ie originally reported.

According to tender documents, the three-year contract agreed by Aramark is worth up to €7,500,000 (excluding VAT) over its lifetime and any extensions.

On February 2nd, the National Gallery staff asked board members to reconsider Aramark’s suitability for the catering contract through a letter, signed by 34 of over 170 staff members.

“Their presence here will cause will cause irreparable reputational damage,” the letter said, adding that Aramark’s values were “at odds” with those of the gallery and its staff.

The letter continued, stating that offering the contract to the company “not only flies in the face of the gallery’s ethos, but also discredits the work that the gallery has carried out with people living in the Direct Provision system”.

It also argued that contracting the services of Aramark was a “direct conflict” with years of work that the gallery had “invested in fostering relationships with this community and gaining their trust”.

The gallery hosted exhibits by people who had lived in or were experiencing Direct Provision three years ago in an exhibition titled ‘Something From There’.

A National Gallery of Ireland spokesperson has responded to the public's upset at the news by claiming it was bound by Irish and EU procurement law during the tender process.

There will be an artists' rally this Friday, February 25th in protest of the National Gallery's contract with Aramark. Organised by End Direct Provision Ireland, the protesters will meet at 5:40pm with the rally beginning at 6pm.

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— End DP Action Group (@end_dp) February 20, 2022