President Vladimir Putin's administration spoke out in favor of removing a gigantic Louis Vuitton suitcase on Red Square on Wednesday, following public outcry about its placement in the historical heart of the Russian capital.
The installation, which blocks the view of the Spasskaya Tower, the Kremlin walls and Saint Basil's Cathedral from certain angles, was intended to honor the 120th anniversary of the GUM department store, located across from the Kremlin, with a six-week exhibition of Louis Vuitton's luggage.
Proceeds from the exhibition were going to be donated to the Naked Heart Foundation, a children's charity founded by Russian model Natalia Vodianova, who is dating the son of Bernard Arnault, the CEO of Louis Vuitton MoСt Hennessy.
Despite the good intentions behind the pavilion, Muscovites did not appreciate its presence on Red Square. Both the Kremlin and opposition parties, factions that rarely agree on anything, are united by their disgust with the infamous suitcase.
Outrage began as workers completed the installation on Red Square on Tuesday. By Wednesday afternoon, they began dismantling the structure
Several Communist deputies criticized the Kremlin for allowing the suitcase — which is 9 meters tall and 30 meters long — to be set up on Red Square.
"This is a sacred place for the Russian state," said Sergei Obukhov, a member of the Communist Party Central Committee. "There are some symbols that cannot be trivialized or denigrated."
Ordinary Russians apparently share Obukhov's feelings about the unique nature of Red Square, which was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1990.
"This is an embarrassment for our country," said Ruslan, a Moscow pensioner who enjoys taking midday walks through Red Square. "We sell ourselves to everybody. All we think about is business, business, business," he added, frantically waving his arms at the giant Louis Vuitton suitcase.
According to the Communist Party's website, a group of deputies sent inquiries to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for clarification on how the suitcase ended up on Red Square in the first place.
Mikhail Kusnirovich, the primary shareholder in Moscow's GUM department store, said the government gave all required approvals for the exhibition to take place on Red Square.
Louis Vuitton explained in a statement that the suitcase also had historical ties to Russia, claiming that the gigantic trunk was modeled after luggage that belonged to Prince Vladimir Orlov, a cavalry officer close to Tsar Nicolas II. However, Louis Vuitton's history lesson failed to convince Russians of the intrinsic value of 19th-century luggage.
"I am against the commercialization of historical places," Alexei Pushkov, a United Russia deputy, said in a telephone interview. "There are many other places in Moscow where a giant suitcase would garner interest without causing public outrage."
Gorky Park and the All-Russian Exhibition Center are now potential candidates to host the Louis Vuitton exhibition.
"Anywhere but on Red Square" seems to be the common theme of the complaints.
For some, the square is a sacrosanct place of worship. It is home to St. Basil's Cathedral, whose multicolored domes serve as the iconic image of Russia abroad and is also a burial site. Lenin rests beside the despised suitcase, which is six meters longer than the Soviet leader's mausoleum. The Kremlin Wall Necropolis, a few steps from the Louis Vuitton trunk, is the resting place of Soviet dignitaries and heroes, including Yuri Gagarin and Leonid Brezhnev.
"The problems caused by the Louis Vuitton suitcase fits into the framework of pseudo-patriotic hysteria and anti-Western sentiments in Russian society," said Vladimir Slatinov, a political analyst at the Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research. "It is difficult to imagine that this could have happened two or three years ago."
