Organizers of the upcoming Summer
Olympics and Paralympics known as Paris 2024 have unveiled the official
"iconic posters" for the international sporting event, but the
cartoon-like depictions of the French capital have already sparked
controversy.
French illustrator Ugo Gattoni, who designed the
colorful Art Deco posters, left out an important detail on of the city's
most prominent landmarks - the cross that tops the dome of the Hôtel
des Invalides, the 17th century museum, hospital and Old Soldier's Home.
Many
other French symbols and monuments are represented in the Olympic
poster, including the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
But the depiction of Les Invalides sans cross has angered some people, including public officials.
A Denial of French Identity?
"They
are willing to deny France to the point of distorting reality to erase
its history," charged François-Xavier Bellamy, a Member of European
Parliament (MEP) and executive vice-president of the Republicans, a
liberal-conservative political party.
"How
can one understand Les Invalides by erasing the cross that constitutes
its profound meaning? How can one claim to love a country when one does
everything to destroy its roots?" Bellamy complained on social media.
And
he was not the only one. Marion Maréchal, the lead MEP candidate for
Reconquest!, a far-right French nationalist party, also expressed
outrage.
"Why erase
the cross at the top of the the dome of Les Invalides on the official
poster of the 2024 Olympics? Why no French flag? What's the point of
hosting the Olympic Games in France if it's to hide who we are?" she
also said on social media.
"The work of traitors guilty of the
fundamental denial of France continues," criticized Gilbert Collard,
another member of Reconquest! who has been an MEP the past five years.
Just an artistic rendition?
"The
official posters are a joyful, light-hearted artistic interpretation of
a reinvented stadium city," the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and
Paralympic Games said in a statement defending the work.
"Many
elements could be reinterpreted by the artist. It is a representation
which is neither exhaustive nor faithful to reality – the Tahiti wave is
off the Marseille Marina, the Eiffel Tower is pink, the Metro passes
under the Arc de Triomphe – (this) should not be subject to politically
motivated interpretations," it said.
A source among the Paris
2024 organizers expressed incomprehension at this controversy, stating
that the poster was merely an artistic rendition.
Furthermore, the source specified that the guidelines the Olympic Committee imposed the artist did not involve the removal of religious symbols.
It merely specified that the Olympic logo, number, and dates of the Summer Games had to be included.
Gattoni,
the designer of the posters, also defended the work. "Through my
drawing of the official posters, I'm not trying to represent objects or
buildings in a conformist manner. I evoke them as they appear to me in
my mind and without ulterior motives," he explained.
The last time Paris hosted the Olympic Games in 1924, one of the two official posters for the event depicted a javelin thrower.
In the background was the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre in the background.
It, too, was missing its cross.