Amazon ‘sorry’ after row over Curtis cover-up
AMAZON has issued an apology after a mural dedicated to Macclesfield icon Ian Curtis was painted over to promote a new album by rapper, Aitch.
People were left outraged after the black-andwhite painting of the Joy Division frontman, on Port Street in Manchester city centre, was replaced with an advert.
Fans of the artwork noticed the the name ‘Aitch’ had been painted in white over the mural earlier this week, which was originally created by street and graffiti artist Akse in 2020.
In a statement on August 16, the Mostonborn rapper said it was the first time he had heard about the advert, and was working with his team to get it fixed “pronto.”
“No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian,” he said.
Bosses at Amazon have since issued a statement on social media.
It said: “As part of our efforts to promote Aitch’s new album we asked our ad agency to create a mural in his home town of Manchester.
“Unbeknownst to us or to Aitch the wall agency chose for the new artwork already had a mural on it - one honouring the late Ian Curtis.
“As soon as we learned of this we ordered the production to stop, and are working with Aitch to restore or replace the original Ian Curtis mural as soon as possible.
“Our apologies to all who are justifiably upset.”
Aske, who also created an Ian Curtis mural at Mill Street, Macclesfield, earlier this year, said the Manchester version had been done to raise awareness of mental health issues.
He posted: “It had become a cultural landmark and meant so much to people.
“It doesn’t take much common sense to understand that this mural should have remained, for what it represented.”
Peter Hook, also a former Joy Division member, says he has been campaigning for over ten years for a permanent memorial to both Joy Division frontman Ian and the late Factory
Records founder Tony Wilson. He has pitched ideas for statues in both
Macclesfield - where Ian lived - and Salford, where Tony was born.