‘Grave robber stuff’: Beauty Gonzalez’s excavated gold jewelry sparks outrage
MANILA, Philippines – Beauty Gonzalez’s GMA Gala look has stirred controversy online after she said that the accessories she wore were reworked from ancestral gold burial masks.
The actress posted photos of her ensemble on Instagram on Saturday, July 22. In the caption, she said that the look was “an appreciation for Philippine Ancestral Gold.”
She added that the neckpiece and earrings she wore were “centuries-old gold” from eye and mouth covers excavated from Butuan and Surigao. She tagged her “favorite jeweller” Riqueza Jewellery in the post.
Many pre-colonial gold artifacts have been found in Butuan, Surigao, and Eastern Mindanao in general. The eye and mouth covers that Beauty’s accessories were supposedly made from are believed to have been used in ancient funerary rites.
“Someone tell this woman that the orifice covers she is paying ‘homage’ to are grave robber stuff. Because if these were legally excavated, the pieces would belong to the National Museum or the Bangko Sentral,” art critic and curator Marian Pastor Roces said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, July 25.
She went on to question the choice to turn death masks into necklaces, saying, “This fashion victim is wearing mouth and eye covers: around 10 of them. Which is to say that the necklace was fashioned from excavations of many individuals. That is an astounding number of desecrated graves!”
“How on earth is this an homage, exhibiting impunity and crassness? Wearing archaeological gold death pieces, flaunting excess, is odious,” she said. “Ignorance (blended with arrogance) can’t possibly be fashionable.”
A number of commenters on Beauty’s post shared Marian’s sentiments.
Instagram user @karlalaandrea pointed out: “Aren’t those burial/funerary orifice covers?” with the gritted teeth emoji to imply awkwardness. To her comment, @ramaoco replied: “Yes. and also the fact that they were turned into jewelry rather than preserved for their archealogical value [sneezing face emoji].”
Another netizen @mxaramirez chimed in and questioned the source of the gold, saying “which totally legal excavation team sold these archaelogical artifacts…to a jeweler.”
“Disgusting,” @mka.folio commented. “Excavating gold from our ancestors and turning them into jewelry instead of preserving its cultural value.
Other commenters addressed Beauty herself, questioning her choice to wear the pieces despite knowing what they were made of.
“YIKES. You know where they are from and that doesn’t bother you? You’re even proud of it? This is not something you should flex lol,” said Instagram user @nikapeji.
“It doesn’t bother you that those death masks were intended to aid the dead into crossing into the next realm?” asked @dating_pilipinas2.
As of this writing, Beauty has not responded to commenters. Rappler has also reached out to Riqueza Jewelry for a statement, but they have yet to respond.
The GMA Gala was held on Saturday, July 22. – Rappler.com