Invitation to sculptural manifestation

- to the press and other interested persons

 

 

Hong Kong,10 December 2005

 

 

 

Tomorrow morning, on Sunday 11 at 9 am a container and a crane will be arriving in Victoria Park, Hong Kong and the controversial Danish concept artist Jens Galschiot will set up three poignant sculpture groups. The sculptor has sent the sculptures 20,000 km from Denmark as a comment to the WTO ministerial conference.

 

The sculptures have arisen a controversy between the artist and park manager Mr YUEN Hing-keung about technical details of the construction. Jens Galschiot has no doubt that we have do with blatant political obstruction, and exclaims:

 

It is grotesque that we come to Hong Kong to support the position of China against technical protectionism and my sculptures are subjected to technical protectionism from the park management in Hong Kong. The sculptures have on various occasions been set up in the public space, e.g. in Paris, London and Copenhagen without any technical or security problems. We have sent technical specifications and certifications from renowned Danish steel construction enterprises. But the authorities of Hong Kong see a security problem even in a copper sculpture of the size of a 12 year old boy.

 

We have now got new certifications sent from Denmark and now we hope there will meet no more obstruction against setting up the sculptures. Otherwise we will choose an absurd solution to an absurd situation: we will lay down on the ground all three sculpture groups so that the height will not exceed 1 and a half metres. Some of the sculptures will be dragged through the streets of Hong Kong, still within the height limit claimed by the authorities. This procedure will undoubtedly expose the Hong Kong authorities to mockery in the world media.

 

 

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More information and free photos: www.aidoh.dk/WTO

Contact to Jens Galschiot and his staff in Hong Kong:  (+852) 9408 6455, aidoh@aidoh.dk

 

The Danish group will endeavour to write a diary and make an activity calendar on the net at: www.aidoh.dk/WTO

 

 

 

The Sculptures, which have just arrived to Hong Kong in a containership:

 

Mad cow Disease – a nine metres high pair of scales with a stuffed cow in one arm and five starved African children in the other. A symbol pinpointing that the rich world is using five times the amount of their development aid to support their own agriculture. Each cow in the rich world gets 850 $ in subsidies during its life. 

Survival of the Fattest is a three metres high copper sculpture of a fat woman with a pair of scales in her hand sitting on the back of starved African man. The fat woman, Justitia, epitomises the rich world’s self-complacent ‘righteousness’ – and the third world’s view on our conduct.

The Hunger March - twenty copper sculptures of starved children will appear as a mobile mani­fe­sta­tion in the many demos expected during the summit.

 

Previous happenings by Galschiot in Hong Kong:

Galschiot and his sculptures have earlier been involved in turmoil in Hong Kong when he in 1997 set up the eight metres high Pillar of Shame to create a memorial of the crackdown of the student up­ri­sing on the Tiananmen square in Beijing in 1989. The Pillar provoked a debate about free speech and in spite of strong opposition from China (and the Hong Kong parliament) it was put up in Victo­ria Park where 55.000 Chinese participated in a memorial ceremony. Later the Pillar of Shame was placed on the campus of University of Hong Kong, which touched off intense student riots in Hong Kong. The British Governor declared: “There will not be fights about free speech as long as Hong Kong is British territory”. Three weeks later China took over Hong Kong.