The latest film from director Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey is one of the most talked-about films of this year. It was released earlier this month and boasts a long list of silver-screen stars, including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, and Robert Pattinson.
Among them is award-winning actress and singer Zendaya, well-known for her appearances in the Dune and Spider-Man franchises, among other roles. At an appearance in London to promote her latest film earlier this month, the 29-year-old sparked outrage for her choice of earrings.
On the surface, the earrings appeared to be a playful nod to the Mediterranean setting of The Odyssey; however, the earrings are in fact historical pieces dating back 3,000 years to Iran.
Believed to date from the first millennium BCE, the earrings are supposedly from the private collection of jeweller Glenn Spiro. They feature gold medallion plaques and diamonds set in 18-carat yellow gold. The original gold discs were set using a simple, non-invasive claw setting to preserve the artefacts.
Barron London, the antique jewellery dealer that reportedly sourced the earrings, confirmed that it has no intention of selling them. However, their appearance at the premiere has raised questions about the provenance and appropriation of ancient jewellery. Zirrar Ali, a London-based author and expert on Islamic history, art, and architecture, said that this choice reflects broader concerns about the treatment of historical objects.
"I find Western celebrities, who are part of the broader Western discourse in all arenas and therefore an extension of the cultural dialogue between East and West, to be largely deaf to questions of ethics and history when it comes to the Global South," he said.
"Adorning artefacts, whether from museums or private collections, is often seen as harmless, but can in fact constitute a display of power and domination."
The showcasing of these earrings has been described as not only historically insensitive, but also ignorant of current events. Namely, the ongoing violent conflict between Iran, the US and Israel, which since February has generated thousands of casualties.
Ali explained that allowing celebrities to wear historical jewellery and artefacts from former empires sends a broader message.
"Not only will we not return what we took from you, because we consider ourselves more worthy custodians, but we also continue to occupy the symbolic position of monarchs and rulers over the lands from which these artefacts were removed,” he said.
Zendaya is US-born. Elsewhere, Macquarie University associate professor of history and archaeology Peter Edwell said the earrings trace to a compromised origin.
"It's believed the items Zendaya wore came from quite a problematic hoard that was discovered in Ziwiye in Iran in the late 1940s," he explained.
"It wasn't excavated. It was plundered and then dispersed out to private and public collections."
Zendaya is not the only Hollywood star to face controversy this year for jewellery choices. Earlier this year, actress Margot Robbie faced backlash for wearing the Taj Mahal Diamond, which features a Parsi inscription, at a red carpet event.
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