According to OPZIJ, the refusal would have to do with the renewed Facebook guidelines. As a result, it is no longer possible to post a photo of Zwarte Piet (or other forms of blackface). Facebook denies that. “The blackface policy announced last week is not yet in effect,” said a spokesman.
The cover was declined on the basis of ‘an easily solved problem’. Facebook doesn’t want to say exactly what.
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The rejected cover features black Abbie Vandivere, curator at the Mauritshuis. She is depicted here as the girl with a pearl earring, after the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer. The curator made the world press through her discoveries during the restoration of the painting.
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Completely ridiculous
Editor-in-chief Marianne Verhoeven of OPZIJ finds it ‘completely ridiculous’ that the image is not allowed on Facebook. “We wanted a photo of Abbie so that it is immediately clear why she is on the cover. She had already taken a photo like this with a friend on her iPhone, but the quality was not good enough. So we made it ourselves with a photographer.”
Verhoeven is also surprised that the promotion was denied. “We have received a lot of good messages. The reactions are enthusiastic and think the photo is beautiful.”
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