news.artnet.com: Just weeks before the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan on February 6, Olympic officials blocked Haiti’s plan to feature a painting of revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture on its team uniforms, prompting a race against time that culminated in a radically altered, hand-painted redesign—the first in the games’ 100-year history.
5 comments:
These winter olympic uniforms are absolutely gorgeous. Truly, the colors and visual imagery are so stunning and unique, unlike the uniforms that the other teams competing in the olympics a wearing. It’s insane that they were hand painted, and only delivered 2 days before the opening ceremony, If I were on that production team I would be totally freaking out that they would not be finished in time for the olympics to start. With an event like the olympics that is viewed by people all over the world there is so much opportunity to spread a message because you have such a huge audience, and their choice of art to represent the voice of Haiti was really cool. The fact that it had to be changed a month before though is still insane to me. Luckily there were only two athletes competing, something like this would not be possible for a country like the US who has far more athletes competing.
I am absolutely obsessed with these Olympic uniforms. I never considered a puffer skirt to be something that would look nice, and yet it is absolutely stunning. The bright red contrasted with the blues and greens just make the outfits so visually assertive and they really just grab your attention. I think it’s really interesting how they chose to alter the original painting rather than just choosing a new one when the International Olympics Committee (IOC) decided that the picture on the costumes were in violation of the rule against political propaganda on uniforms. I love how Stella Jean, the designer, said about removing Louverture and the snake. She explained that “We did not erase the spirit of the General… His absence speaks louder than his presence ever could,” and I just think that is super powerful. I also agree with Arden when they say that I would absolutely be freaking out thinking they would not be done in time. The work is seriously impressive.
When watching the Winter Olympics, I really had no idea how important the costumes were for the contestants until I saw Haiti’s costumes. I love how meaningful these costumes were to the people wearing them and to the people who live in their country supporting and cheering them on. I think it's such a beautiful story to tell. Although in a typical setting, they are not the most " fashionable” I think they're very interesting, which makes them very beautiful. Not very many people can pull off a puffer skirt. I love how meaningful this hand painted artwork is, it really shows how much thought goes into every single detail of the Olympics not just a sport itself. Haiti’s costumes really took it above and beyond this Olympic season. I am intrigued to see in the future or look back on past Olympics if other countries will start doing this or have been doing it for a while because I've never heard of this before until this article. I guess we'll see in a couple of years.
This is brilliant. I talk so much about art being a way for protest and resistance and there is nothing I love more than malicious compliance. They were told that they could not paint the general from the painting so they painted everything but him. To get the note that they could not have anything political on their uniforms merely weeks before the games and have to rethink their design, must have been incredibly frustrating. However, the choice to just remove the general is incredibly smart. It shows how the world sees people of color as political for just existing. Resistance can be shown in the biggest and smallest of ways. While this was not a small act of resistance, it was a deliberate and planned form of resistance. Haiti has a very charged history of its people constantly being held down and harmed. Louverture is an important part of their history and I am glad that the designer decided to not back down, but instead “comply” in a way that still is a protest.
The artwork that the artist came up with is a brilliant solution to the problem the IOC gave them. This reminds me a bit of the Streisand Effect, where by saying it was a political statement and not allowing it the IOC actually brought more attention to the political statement and the fact the Louverture has to be left out is almost a bigger political statement as they say in the article. The costume is very beautiful and eye-catching, I often find patterns on puffy coats to look a bit tacky but the artwork just makes a really cool statement out of the uniform. I also think it would have been technically challenging and interesting to put a flat image onto a very 3D costume in a way that wraps well. It is a good use of color to really stand out against the snow that they would be competing on and against more simple costumes.
Post a Comment