Press release 20 December 1999:

 Giant Christmas Present for Brazilian Parliament
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 The controversial Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot has donated a 200,000 dollars sculpture to the Brazilian parliamentarians. The sculpture titled The Pillar of Shame is one the most re­nown sculptures of the nineties, for good or for bad depending on the chosen viewpoint. It is eight metres in height depicting more than 50 human bodies, painfully twisted in an obelisk form.

The artist has donated similar sculptures before:

¨      In 1997 one was bestowed to the democracy movement in China who put it up in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing 1989.

¨      Another Pillar was in April 1999 given to the Indians of Mexico who have used it as symbol of the encroachments on the indigenous population.

The donation of sculp­tures is the corner stone of a world-embracing art manifestation: about once a year a Pillar of Shame will be set up to highlight a severe infringement against huma­ni­ty.

Jens Galschiot is donating this Pillar of Shame, the third one of the series, to the Brazilian par­lia­ment to give an opportunity to all democratic forces to manifest their determination to defend the human rights. If the parliamentarians decide to accept the Pillar and to put it up on a central square in the capital, they will send out a signal to the outside world that they are serious­ly concerned about the legal security of each citizen.

The sculpture will be erected to mark the massacre of Eldorado de Carajás on 17 April 1996 where 19 landless peasants lost their lives – shot at close quarters or mowed down by their own farm tools. Ironically, this bloody event has given rise to the International Day against Im­pu­ni­ty. For that reason the Danish artist has chosen the 17 April 2000, the fourth anniver­sa­ry of the massacre, as the date for setting up the Pillar.

More information and many photos are available on the Internet: www.aidoh.dk

DOCUMENTS:

 1. Letter to Brazilian parliamentarians

 After mature consideration we have now chosen Brazil as the country to receive the next Pillar of Shame. This event will undoubtedly be especially highlighted, due to the fact that it is the First Pillar to be set up in the new millennium.

The sculpture will be landed in Brazil at the beginning of 2000, so that it can be mounted on a central square in the capital on 17 April, the fourth anniversary of the Eldorado massacre. The bestowal of the prize has been made by the Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and Art In Defence Of Humanism. Mounting and transport will be free of charge for the recipient.

The Pillar of Shame is a sculpture eight metres in height depicting more than 50 human bodies, painfully twisted in an obelisk form. The sculpture forms part of a humanistic art mani­festation that is during a decade embracing the whole planet. Pillars of Shame will be set up all over the world to mark severe infringements against humanism. When a Pillar has been mounted it will a part of a world-embracing network of similar sculptures. Hence it will contri­bute globally to preserve the memo­ry of an outrageous act which must never reoccur.

The first Pillar of Shame was put up in Hong Kong on 4^th June ’97. The sculpture was set up to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing in ’89 where the Chinese authorities brutally crushed the democracy movement.

The second Pillar of Shame was put up in Mexico City on 17^th April ’99 to mark the Inter­natio­nal Day against Impunity. A couple of weeks later the sculpture was set up at the entrance of the village of Acteal in Chiapas where 45 unarmed indigenous people were murdered in cold blood by a para­mili­tary group on 22^nd December 1997.

As mentioned Brazil will be the next place to put up a Pillar of Shame. This event will take place on the 17^th April 2000. Subsequently a Pillar of Shame will be put up on a central square of Berlin in the autumn of the same year in remembrance of the victims of the mass exter­­­mination of the Nazi Regime 1933-45. The Berlin Pillar of Shame has already been posi­tive­ly received by various mem­bers of the German Par­li­a­ment.

When we have chosen to put up the next Pillar of Shame in Brazil it is due to the fact that it is a bloody event in exactly this country which has originated the initiative of the International Day against Impunity, namely the massacre on 17^th April 1996 in Eldorado de Carajás, where 19 land­less peasants lost their lives – shut down at close quarters or mowed down by their own working tools.

The Pillar of Shame does not pronounce any judgment on the question of guilt. But the sculp­ture ad­duces the claim that the guilty at all levels be made responsible: those who carried out the massa­cre, those who gave the orders and those who at different levels are covering up the perpe­trators.

The sculpture is given to the Brazilian state, represented by the parliamentary assembly who by accept it is sending a signal out to the world of the determination of the state to guarantee the legal secu­rity and to reinforce the defence of the human rights in Brazil. The sculpture is bestowed to the Brazi­lian parliament to give all democratic forces an opportunity to manifest their serious con­cern about the legal security of each citizen.

On the base of the sculpture there will be a plate containing a statement of the artist about the reasons for choosing Brazil to put up a Pillar of Shame. On another plate there will be a statement of the Brazilian parliament explaining why the elected representatives have decided to accept the donation.

The bestowal of the Pillar of Shame is made on the assumption that the Brazilian parliament decides to set it up on a central square in the capital. We expect the National Assembly to decide about the present as soon as possible and not later then 15 January 2000 and communicate the site selected for mounting the sculpture, so that the practical planning can be started.

We are always at disposal for further information. In addition, information is available on our web-site: www.aidoh.dk.

We are sending documentation to all the parties on the Pillar of Shame and the mounting of the sculpture in Hong Kong and Mexico.

Yours faithfully

Jens Galschiot

Photos of the Pillar of Shame set up on the Zócalo of Mexico City are available on the Internet:

http://www.aidoh.dk/photos/pos/mexico/may2nd/posmexmay2_09.jpg

http://www.aidoh.dk/photos/pos/mexico/may2nd/posmexmay2_04.jpg

http://www.aidoh.dk/photos/pos/mexico/may2nd/posmexmay2_08.jpg

 2. Donation of the Pillar of Shame

 At this point Brazil has been chosen as the place to put up the third Pillar of Shame. The Pillar of Shame is a sculpture which is put up all over the world in defence of the humanistic basis of our civilization.

This sculpture has been given to the Brazilian state to mark the massacre of Eldorado de Carajás on  17^th April 1996 where a slaughtering of land-less farmers took place leaving 19 dead people behind. The setting up of the Pillar of Shame contributes to preserve the memory of this encroachment.

The Pillar of Shame is bestowed to the Brazilian state represented by the elected Parliament in order to emphasise the part of the state as a guarantee of the legal security of the inha­bi­tants and the invio­­lability of the human rights in Brazil.

The Pillar of Shame is to be put up in the capital of Brazil on ¹⁷th of April 2000, the fourth anniver­­­sary of the Eldorado massacre.

Jens Galschiot

English version corrected by Luis M. Luis (E-mail:  luisluis@Luis.com)

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