The Louvre Launches Art Tour Based On The Carters’ “Apeshit” Video
Beyoncé and Jay-Z famously filmed the video for “Apeshit,” the Migos-assisted lead single from their collaborative album Everything Is Love, at the Louvre. Somehow the Carters kept the shoot a secret until the video’s release in tandem with the album last month, but now that the word is out, the world-famous Paris art museum is capitalizing on the moment.
AFP reports that the Louvre is now hosting a tour based on the Carters’ night at the museum. Classified as a “visitor trail,” the tour features 17 works included in the “Apeshit” video, pieces the Carters chose to spotlight black bodies and empowerment. The works include the white Greek marble piece “Nike of Samothrace,” Marie Benoist’s “Portrait Of A Negress,” and David’s “The Coronation Of Napoleon I And The Crowning Of The Empress Josephine.”
The 90-minute self-guided tour is part of what Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez calls an effort to make the museum’s vast collection “more readable” for global visitors. However, for now it’s only available only in French. The narration explains the historical significance of each artifact but does not get into “Apeshit” director Ricky Saiz’s reasons for including each one in the video.
The “Apeshit” tour is not the Louvre’s first tour inspired by the world of pop and rap. Previously they instituted a tour based on Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am’s “Mona Lisa Smile.” The museum also hosted a surprise DJ set by Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne in 2016. That’s all well and good, but when are they going to get around to Lorde?
Watch the “Apeshit” video below.