Russian Socialite Miroslava Duma, has become the center of a racism row after she published an image on her website of Dasha Zhukova, sitting on a chair made from the mannequin of a black woman.
The photoshoot was for an interview with Duma's fashion website Buro 24/7 about Zhukova's new magazine Garage, where she is editor-in-chief. The images sparked backlash due to nature of its content; Ms Zhukova posing on a chair made from a half-naked mannequin of a black woman (a white woman sitting very literally on the back of a black woman). The chair (which has a cushion on the back of the mannequin's thighs), was designed by Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard and is similar to the fibreglass piece "Chair" produced by British pop-artist Allen Jones who created an entire series of works of women as tables, chairs, and other inanimate objects.
Shortly after, Buro 24/7 removed the image and replaced it with a cropped version where you can only see the legs. Duma issued an apology on Instagram and cropped the image saying “Dear all, Buro24/7.4u team and I personally would like to express our sincerest apology to anyone who we have offended and hurt. It was ABSOLUTELY not our intention. We are against racism or gender inequality or anything that infringes upon anyone’s rights. We love, respect and look up to people regardless of their race, gender or social status. The chair in the photo should only be seen as a piece of art which was created by British Pop-Artist Allen Jones, and not as any form of racial discrimination. In our eyes everyone is equal. And we love everybody.”
Dasha Zhukova, deleted the picture from her Instagram and also issued a similar nonchalant apology saying “The chair pictured in the Buro 24/7 website interview is an artwork created by Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, one of a series that reinterprets art historical works from artist Allen Jones as a commentary on gender and racial politics. Its use in this photo shoot is regrettable as it took the artwork totally out of its intended context, particularly given that Buro 24/7s release of the article coincided with the important celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.I regret allowing an artwork with such charged meaning to be used in this context. I utterly abhor racism and would like to apologize to those offended by my participation in this shoot. Garage Magazine has a strong track record of promoting diversity and racial and gender equality in the worlds of art and fashion, and will continue in our mission to stir positive debate on these and other issues.”
Twitter users condemned the use of the chair in the photoshoot as “racist”, “disturbing” and “revolting”, with many criticizing pictures of the shoot being posted on Martin Luther King Day.
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