Arc'teryx Under Fire for Pyrotechnic Display in Tibet

"Arc'teryx recently decided to do two things that plenty of clothing companies do: collaborate with an artist and draw attention to a particular place. In this case, the location was the Himalayas and the artist was Cai Guo-Qiang, who sometimes uses gunpowder in his work.You can tell where this is going, right? Guo-Qiang came up with a memorable installation that evoked the shape of a dragon and followed a path up a hill."

"It was a striking image - but the fact that it took place in an otherwise idyllic landscape left many observers understandably alarmed.As Phoebe Zhang reported in the South China Morning Post, local officials in Tibet plan to investigate the pyrotechnics and are looking into whether the event did any damage to the landscape. Zhang noted that the fireworks used in the installation were in line with guidelines related to the 2022 Winter Olympics."

"Since then, Arc'teryx has issued an apology - though that has not been without controversy of its own. In a statement posted on Instagram, the company argued that the event "was out of line with Arc'teryx's values" and that the company would seek to "change the way we work to ensure this doesn't happen again."Writing in The Washington Post, Leo Sands and Lyric Li noted that Arc'teryx had posted differently phrased statements in English and Chinese, a decision that has led to additional criticism."

Arc'teryx collaborated with artist Cai Guo-Qiang to stage a gunpowder-based fireworks installation in the Himalayas that evoked a dragon moving up a hill. The installation used pyrotechnics in an otherwise idyllic landscape, prompting alarm among observers and a planned investigation by local Tibetan officials into potential damage. Reported compliance with 2022 Winter Olympics fireworks guidelines did not prevent scrutiny. Arc'teryx stated that it cleaned up the site and later issued an apology, calling the event out of line with its values and promising changes. Differently phrased English and Chinese statements generated additional criticism.

Read at InsideHook