Key Points
- An artist who painted a mural of a Ukranian and Russian soldier embracing says "everyone makes mistakes".
- He has apologises but maintains he's happy to have shared "a message of peace".
This article contains references to rape.
An artist who painted what was criticised as an "offensive" three-storey mural of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers embracing has now painted over it, saying "everyone makes mistakes".
But while he says he's "deeply sorry" for offending people, he maintains he's happy to have shared "a message of peace" and a rare human moment when "perhaps soldiers do hug".
Peter Seaton spent 10 days painting the mural 'Peace before Pieces', seen in Kings Way near Melbourne's CBD, in an attempt to highlight peace after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
"My intention was a sincere message of peace ... that we're all one species of human beings. We all have more in common than that which separates us and that's always my message," he told Radio National on Monday.
He said he knew the mural would be "a hard question to ask" but he didn't expect it to be "so badly received".
, who said it inaccurately depicts both soldiers are equally culpable in the war.
Ukraine's ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said it was "disappointing" that community members in Melbourne were not consulted before it was approved.
He described it as "utterly offensive".
"The painter has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine and it is disappointing to see it done without consulting the Ukrainian community in Melbourne," he wrote on Twitter.
Community leader Stefan Romaniw described the artwork's message as drawing a "false moral equivalence between the aggressor and the victim".
“What would people think if a mural featured a rapist and a victim hugging?" Mr Romaniw, the co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a mock-up of the mural trending on Twitter made by Chinese-Australian artist Badiucao showed a Russian soldier stabbing the Ukrainian soldier in the back.
"Here, I fix the disgraceful and offensive mural in Melbourne with the true face of Russia’s brutality and war crimes from its invasion in Ukraine," read the caption.
Mr Seaton, who describes himself as a an "artist and explorer of consciousness", said he consulted a "variety" of people over eight months.
"The overwhelming consensus I got back was people did get a message of peace from it."
He says the feedback included positive thoughts from a member of the Ukrainian community, though he also received negative feedback from other members of the community as time went on, but by then his mind was made up.
"I felt really deeply and strongly about the mural and didn't want to censor that aspect because I felt it was a really important message to put out. Perhaps it was clumsy as some would say, and I'm gonna say, I don't get it right all the time."
'People get offended by tons of things'
The artist said his intention was never to sympathise with Russia and he can't control how people interpret art.
"People get offended by tons of different things that other people don't get offended by, and that's just the nature of art."
Mr Seaton said he understood the "devastation Russia has caused" and said he understood why people were upset.
"I'm deeply sorry towards them. My intention was never to hurt anyone and that's why I painted over it and stayed up until 3am last night."
"There's obviously a contingent of people who feel this is going to be hurtful and maybe traumatising, and that's not what I want to create with my work."
But he said he still believed the mural had a "net benefit", adding that he wanted to capture a rare moment "when perhaps soldiers do hug".
"It could happen. I wish that people would resolve conflicts and communicate. Communication is how we resolve wars."
"I'm happy to have put the message out because a lot of people did get the message of peace."
Mr Seaton said he would like to create another mural on the subject of Ukraine, one that commemorates the people and their culture.
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