Gucci Social Media Campaign Slammed for ‘Artistic Vandalism’ of Parthenon Sculptures

The Club for UNESCO of Piraeus & Islands has slammed Gucci’s Instagram project #Guccigram for “humiliating” the Parthenon sculptures. #Guccigram is a social media campaign of Gucci which invites artists to reimagine works of art by marrying them with the luxury label’s new Gucci Blooms and Gucci Caleido prints.

The artists participating in the project were given total creative freedom and turned their hand to iconic paintings — such as American Gothic and The Kiss — and historical monuments — such as the Parthenon Marbles, embellishing them with Gucci fabrics and accessories.

According to the Club for UNESCO of Piraeus & Islands, Gucci’s project is humiliating symbols that for centuries inspired the world’s greatest minds and artists.

“Attending the childbirth of the goddess Athena, Dionysus, wearing colorful shorts, holding a lady’s bag and having a flower on his ear, enjoys himself taking selfie photos with his mobile. Cecrops, dressed like hippies, Ilissos wearing women’s accessories and next Kalliroi with her iphone, are watching the dispute between Poseidon and Athena for the Athens city… The ‘gucci party’ of the ancient Greek gods is held in the Western and Eastern Parthenon Pediments, challenging every notion of respect to the one of the most memorable sights of the UNESCO World Heritage”, the Club said in an announcement on Wednesday.

The Club underlined that the #Guccigram project promotes the Gucci designs with “complete apathy” on the cultural and symbolic value of the Parthenon sculptures. It also reminded that according to Greek legislation and the regulation of the Acropolis Museum, professional photography and/or the use of photos for commercial – marketing purposes of the exhibits is allowed only with written approval from the museum.

The Club for UNESCO added that the #Guccigram project was “fooling with the struggle of the Greeks for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum” and called for Gucci to withdraw the images of the Parthenon sculptures from the campaign.

Founded in 1998, the Club for UNESCO of Piraeus and Islands, a non profit and non governmental organization, aims to foster intercultural awareness, understanding, cooperation and solidarity according to the principles and ideals of UNESCO.

Photo source: instagram.com/gucci/