Amazon have issued an apology after a mural dedicated to the iconic Ian Curtis was painted over to promote a new album by Manchester rapper, Aitch.
People were left outraged after the black-and-white painting of the Joy Division frontman, on Port Street in the Northern Quarter, was painted over 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.
READ MORE: Tributes pour in for Tyson Fury's boxer cousin Rico Burton stabbed to death
In a statement on Tuesday night (August 16), the Moston-born rapper said it was the first time 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, adding 'MCR' to the end of his tweet with a love heart and bee emoji.
Bosses at Amazon have since issued a statement on social media confirming they commissioned the advert for Aitch to promote his new album in his hometown of Manchester.
They have since apologised for the upset caused, and claimed they were unaware that the agency they'd instructed to create the advert had chosen the wall on Port Street.
"As part of our efforts to promote Aitch's new album we asked our ad agency to create a mural in his hometown of Manchester," a spokesperson for the company said.
"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."
The artwork was originally created to mark the start of the Manchester music and wellbeing festival Headstock, a mental health music event.
Akse posted: "So my mural of Ian Curtis based on the original photograph by @philippecarly has been painted over to promote the release of a new album, personally I don’t have anything against hand-painted advertising as this is how I make a living, but this mural was painted in collaboration with @headstockuk and supported by @manchestercitycouncil and @sweetnothingmcr to raise awareness for Mental Health and support @giveusashoutinsta a free text messaging services to help people with mental health issues.
"It had become a cultural landmark and meant so much to people from Manchester and beyond; it doesn’t take much common sense to understand that this mural should have remained for what it represented and stood for."
Dozens of outraged people tweeted about the mural being painted over. Headstock Festival said: "Absolutely gutted to see our Ian Curtis mural painted over.
"Such a shame when @AmazonMusicUK had pretty much any other wall in Manchester to choose from. Especially when it was created by@Akse_P19 to raise mental health awareness in support of @GiveUsAShout."
@MANCHESTERMUS10 wrote: "Absolutely disgusted to hear the @akse_P19 Ian Curtis mural in Manchester has been painted over. It isn’t important what has replaced it but simply that it has been replaced. This should have been a tribute to a legend for as long as that building remained. Angry ain’t close."
@gshawisme added: "Who on Earth thought this was a good idea? The Ian Curtis mural was stunning piece of art. The ad could’ve gone anywhere."
Manchester music legend Peter Hook has since called for a permanent Manchester memorial to his former Joy Division bandmate Ian Curtis . Bass player Hook says he has been campaigning for over 10 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. Now Hook says he's happy to support the reinstatement of the Ian Curtis mural, which is being led by the original artist Akse along with Aitch's management, while he continues to push for statues to both music figures too.
Read more of today's top stories here.
Read next:
-
Aldi shopper in disbelief when she compares her weekly shop to ASDA's budget range
-
Octopus Energy customers should consider fixed tariffs before price cap following latest advice
-
There’s a secret garden less than an hour’s drive from Manchester and it’s absolutely stunning
-
Decision on ditching Clean Air Zone fees put off until new Prime Minister in post
