Lega Serie A has come under fire after it revealed three paintings of monkeys as part of their anti-racism campaign.
Artist Simone Fugazzotto came up with the idea following the Coppa Italia final in May, and indicated his vision was to show that we are all part of the same race.
“With this trio of paintings I would like to show that we are all the same race,” Simone Fugazzotto said.
“Infact when Lega Serie A commissioned a work against racism last May I immediately thought to paint a western monkey, an asian monkey and a black monkey, because I would like to change people’s perceptions by my work.
“My paintings fully reflects the values of fair play and tolerance, I use monkeys as a metaphor for human beings because the colour of our skin is not important.”
Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo also indicated the differing ways in which the organisation will help combat racism in Italy.
“Simone created these works some months ago,” De Siervo stated. “We want to fight any form of prejudice and we know racism is an endemic and complex problem.
“We will face it on three fronts, cultural, asking famous artist to make their contribution like Simone did last spring, sporting, thanks to initiatives together with clubs and players and also repressive with Police and Government collaboration.”
Following the paintings being unveiled, anger spread across the social media, which prompted a response from Fugazzotto.
“I only paint monkeys, as metaphors of being human,” the artist explained. “Evolutionary theory says this. Everything starts from here.
“The monkey is like a spark to teach everyone that there is no difference. Why not stop censoring the word monkey in football, but turn the concept around and say instead that in the end we’re all apes?
“Because if we are human beings, monkeys, reincarnated souls, energy or aliens who care, the important thing is to hear a concept of equality and brotherhood.”
