Australian photographer Helen Whittle to Fanpage.it: “I’m the author of that shot of my daughter, no one has asked me for permission to reproduce it, I’m asking my lawyers about what to do”. The shot is covered by copyright.
Jorit’s mural in Mariupol
The little girl portrayed by Ciro Cerullo, in art Joriton a bombed-out building in Mariupol is not “a little girl from Donbass who lived her first years immersed in the war” – as claimed by the artist – but an Australian girl: Jorit copied the shot taken a few years ago by her mother exactly of the little one — the lady is an award-winning photographer — and protected by copyright.
A circumstance which, in addition to undermining the credibility of the Neapolitan artist and of those who have given him credit as a hero of international pacifism in recent days, opens many doubts about the whole operation and who organized it. And that could cost Jorit a lot of money.
“It was distressing and painful for me to see my image copied and used in this way”, Helen Whittle tells Fanpage.it, the author of the artistic photo that Jorit used for his mural. “Jorit did not ask my permission to reproduce the image or compensate me in any way,” she explains in an email. “I have not given any permission to reproduce and I’m asking my lawyers for advice on what to do.”
Above all, Whittle unequivocally dissociates himself from the messages that Jorit says he wanted to send by painting the mural: “My ideas and opinions are in no way in line with those of this artist”.
On social media and in interviews with so-called newspapers such as @DonbassItalia, Jorit had expressed his belief that our country should help not Ukraine but Donbass, understood as Russia, in this war. Indicating as reasons the alleged aggression of Kyiv against the civilians of the separatist republics and “the imperialism of the United States, which has controlled Ukraine since 2014 like a puppet”. No mention that Russia invaded Ukraine.
In an interview with GiornaleRadio, Jorit added: “I chose to paint a little girl from Donbass who remained alive and who lived her first years in the war in Mariupol. I hope this little girl will soon be able to see her live portrait”.
The girl in the mural is identical to Whittle’s shot even in the folds of the turtleneck he wears. “She is not a child from Donbass and is obviously a copy of my photograph, the subject of which is my daughter,” comments the photographer.
The only obvious difference with the Australian portrait, in Jorit’s work, is the NATO-registered missile painted over the girl’s right shoulder. The only contribution of the artist, in addition to the iconic tribal signs on the cheeks, characteristic of the murals of the Neapolitan painter.
“I am an artist who enters reality to tell it”, Jorit told GiornaleRadio. “I wanted to tell with my mural (sic!) the other side of the coin, a forgotten little girl. I want to reach peace, I want to make a contribution with my story”.
The street artist wanted to underline that he had “everything to lose by creating a work like this, becoming a target, being covered in insults”. Adding, again in the interview with GiornaleRadio: “I could stay at home, mind my own business, make money and sell paintings. But I’m an artist and I have to follow my inspiration”.
“It seems that you find inspiration by copying images found on the internet”, replies from a distance, with bitterness, Helen Whittle. “I am sad and angry that an artist feels the need to copy someone else’s work without asking permission. And I am very saddened by the way my image, my daughter’s portrait, has been used.”
We will soon know what the possible legal developments of this affair will be, in which Jorit at least makes a very bad impression. Meanwhile, we have to ask ourselves who invited Ciro Cerullo to Mariupol and why.
On social media, the artist explained that he was in the city tormented first in 2015 and then – definitively – in 2022 by Russian bombing for an unidentified “festival” and that he had found in the organizers of the same people, “very interested in international things and to Italy”. Wars are also made like this: an invitation to a demonstration, a hasty artistic work and a lot of propaganda. Free? Jorit says yes. But he will have to answer many questions. Which so far no one has done to him.
