Paris Olympics poster causes consternation with ‘woke’ landmark
FRENCH conservatives have attacked the official Paris Olympics poster for removing a cross from the site of Napoleon’s tomb, as the government considers hosting a Saudi “Olympic village” at the historic landmark.
Two art-deco posters depicting the city were unveiled this week to promote the 2024 games, with the illustrations adorning billboards across Paris. But Right-wing critics have attacked the “woke” designs for leaving out a cross that sits on top of the Domes des Invalides.
It comes amid outrage from both conservatives and liberals after one of Emmanuel Macron’s ministers confirmed that Paris was looking “sympathetically” at Riyadh’s request to install a national pavilion in the middle of the military complex.
The Paris Olympics are set to take place from July 26 until Aug 11, followed by the Paralympics from Aug 28.
The French artist Ugo Gattoni’s promotional posters, which depict the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais and Les Invalides, were revealed yesterday. Noting that the illustration omitted the cross on the building that houses Napoleon’s tomb, Francois-xavier Bellamy of the Right-wing Republicans party accused the designers of being “ready to deny France, going so far as to distort reality to cancel its history”.
Meanwhile, Marion Marechal of the far-right Reconquete (Reconquest) party, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “What is the point of holding the Olympic Games in France if we then hide who we are?”
The National Rally lawmaker Nicolas Meizonnet added that the omissions must be the result of “wokism”.
Responding to the controversy, Mr Gattoni said that he had rendered buildings “in the way they come to my mind without any ulterior motive”.
He added: “I am not aiming to make them accurate to the originals but rather to make them recognisable at a glance, placing them within a surrealist and celebratory universe.”
The organising committee said that the posters were a “light-hearted interpretation of a reinvented stadium-city.”
A surfing wave is seen “offshore of the Marseille Marina; the Eiffel Tower is pink; the Metro is passing through the Arc de Triomphe – none of which should be the object of politically motivated interpretations”, it added.
The furore comes amid an outcry over Mr Macron’s government’s possible plans to erect what has been described as a Saudi “Olympic village” on the grounds of Les Invalides.
The historic site is home to museums of the army and the Legion of Honour, as well as the hospital for the war wounded, while its courtyard is where state memorial ceremonies and funerals are held.
Plans for the pavilion, which would be erected in May and stand for four months, were revealed after Nathalie Serre, a conservative MP, demanded details in a parliamentary question.
Sébastien Lecornu, the defence minister, said that the government was giving the proposal a “sympathetic view”, adding that “Saudi Arabia is committed to respecting the security and financial measures of Les Invalides” and that Riyadh was an “important defence partner”. He said several countries would be setting up pavilions in the city.
The proposal was criticised as an example of pandering to the Gulf state by both Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and the far-left party of Jean-luc Mélenchon.
Ms Serre said that a foreign state would be out of place in “an architectural treasure, full of symbolism and our country’s history”.
She added: “There are some things that are not for sale and in my view Les Invalides is one of them.”
The defence ministry said that the deal was dependent “on strict conditions that the Saudis have not yet accepted, which must ensure the security and solemnity of the site and the peace of the resident pensioners”.
‘What is the point of holding the Olympic Games in France if we then hide who we are?’