BY JUAN HERNANDEZ
Outdoor apparel brand Arc’teryx has endured heavy scrutiny in recent days following a promotional fireworks show in Tibet. The show, a collaboration between the brand and Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, featured colored fireworks exploding in coordination to resemble a dragon moving through the Tibetan Plateau.
Videos of the stunt were posted by the artist and the brand on social media on Friday, but they were taken down after a swift wave of public criticism for both environmental concerns and cultural concerns. Organizers had claimed the fireworks used biodegradable and eco-friendly materials, and they had planned to clean any residue and restore all vegetation to avoid leaving any footprint, but critics felt the show had endangered the ecologically fragile land regardless. Arc’teryx issued a statement online after they’d taken the videos of the fireworks display down.
“We’re addressing this directly with the local artist involved, our team in China, and will change the way we work to ensure this doesn’t happen again, ” Arc’teryx said in a written statement. “Our expectation is that everything we do reflects our environmental ethos, and we have no tolerance for actions that do not align. We have already begun efforts to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of this event.”
Meanwhile, Cai reportedly issued an apology on the Chinese social network Weibo, acknowledging there were “oversights” in their planning of the fireworks show and pledging to help further with cleanup efforts.
According to BJ News, an official with the Ecology and Environment Bureau of a branch of the Gyangze County said the event had been documented and was compliant.
“Since environmentally friendly materials were used for the fireworks, an environmental assessment was not required, and approval from township, village, and county-level governments was sufficient. The government had held multiple meetings in advance to study the site selection, assess what wildlife might be nearby, and eventually chose a location outside ecological protection zones with no residents in the vicinity. So far, there has been no observed damage to the local environment, and follow-up monitoring will continue,” the official said.
This article first appeared on The Inertia.
