Odense, 27.05.1997.

Pillar of Shame Arrived in Hong Kong
The Initiator Arrives Friday Morning

NA01143A.gif (987 bytes)Pictures of the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kongno-frames.JPG (4677 bytes)


Monday evening the good ship Ming East arrived in the container terminal of Hong Kong with the Pillar of Shame on board. This morning the sculpture was moved to the warehouse of M+R Forwarding (HK) Ltd (office: 7th floor, Centre Point). It will later be assembled for the display in Victoria Park 4th June.
The sculpture will be placed on a base that will be provided with text plates in bronze - on one side in Chinese, on another side in English. I will bring the plates in English with me in the aeroplane, see the texts below. The Chinese text plates will be made by the Hong Kong Alliance.

Friday morning I will arrive in the Kai Tak Airport where a press conference will be arranged (contact the Hong Kong Alliance, see below).

Schedule of the Flight:

Flight No

29 May 07.45 Dep. Billund DM 201
08.20 Arr. London - Gatwick
14.55 Dep. London - Heathrow BA 025
30 May 10.30 Arr. Hong Kong - Kai Tak


Jens Galschiøt

More information is available by:

Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic
Democratic Movements of China
9/F Good Hope Building - 618 Nathan Road
Kowloon - Hong Kong

Contact person: Mr Albert Ho
Tel. (852) 2522 7721/ 2782 6111
Fax (852) 2868 2797

Photos and information are available on

Galschiot's homepage: http://www.aidoh.dk

The big text plate (the first one below) measures 90 x 42 cm, the small plate 30 x 42 cm.

PILLAR OF SHAME

- A Memorial for Tiananmen

This original sculpture has been mounted to perpetuate the memory of the massacre that took place in Beijing on 4th June 1989. The Tiananmen movement that was so violently

suppressed was fighting for the basic human right of freedom of expression, and for the right to participate in the decision-making processes affecting the future of its own country.

We honour the memory of those whose peaceful protests were crushed by soldiers and tanks. May they never be forgotten.

Jens Galschiot

 

PILLAR OF SHAME

- An Art Happening of Remembrance

This original sculpture is a sculptural outcry that will spread over the Planet over the next ten years. Once or twice a year, a Pillar of Shame will be mounted around the world as a memorial of a crime committed against humanity. The sculpture will be mounted to serve as a continual reminder of a shameful act which must never reoccur. The Pillar of Shame is a kind of Nobel Prize of Injustice.

The sculpture is created by the Danish sculptor

JENS GALSCHIOT

1996

in cooperation with: Kurt Hansen, John Bonnesen Wolff, Vivi Smith, Vagn Frausing, Jane Banke, Brian Madsen, Anders Sergent, Gry Bagøien, Linda Westfalen, Oleg (Russia), Edvard (Russia), Vika (Russia), Lotte Olsen, Mark Laplume (USA), Linda Christensen, Troels Gelting, Martin Hansen, Jan Christiansen, Preben Christensen, Maria Iners Tipsmark, Maj Frost, Jim Walsh, Dorthe Gregersen, Paulina Kjeldsen, Hariette Jensen,Trine Sandager, Nicki Concaas, Mette Pedersen, Trine Ebbesen, Jens Frederiksen, Brian Hansen, Lars Dahl, Henrik Rasmussen, Krakagården, Mogens Hvam Andersen, Jens Petersen, Lene Jelling

and thousands of people around the Globe who support the happening and are helping with the mounting of the sculptures, often in spite of considerable personal risk.

Immortal Symbolism

This Pillar of Shame was displayed in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on the occasion of the Candlelight Vigil on 4th June 1997 in cooperation with the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. The tradition of the Candlelight Vigils was initiated 1989, when about 1,000,000 people gathered in Victoria Park to protest against the ruthless crackdown of the Tiananmen movement by the authorities.

The display in Victoria Park marked the international debut of the happening. After the Vigil the sculpture was mounted on this site as a gift to the Chinese people in support of the struggle for human rights and in commemoration of the victims of the Beijing massacre on 4th June 1989. Set up a few weeks before the reunification with China, marking the end of the colonial era, the Pillar of Shame is a test of the validity of the old and new authorities guarantees for human rights and freedom of expression in Hong Kong. Some day, when the circumstances make it possible, the sculpture might be moved to Beijing.

No authority will ever succeed in preventing the mounting of the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong. No ban on the sculpture can diminish its symbolic value. No attack, not even the destruction of the sculpture can obliterate the symbolism of the Pillar of Shame. No more than ruthless oppression has managed to stifle the spirit of Tiananmen. The symbolism of the first Pillar of Shame will be reinforced by the following sculptures placed around the world.

It is the aim of the Pillar of Shame to perpetuate the memory of the atrocity and its victims - to serve as a reminder in history.



Relevant documents
  • PILLAR OF SHAME - A Happening of Remembrance to the  version of this document  to the  version of this document  
  • Level Up

    1997: The Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong
    Additional Information:
    Categories: 1997: The Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong | Happenings and Art Installations | 1996-?: The Pillar of Shame | Activities related to China
    Themes: Criticism of governments | Free speech | Massacres | Schools involved
    Sculptures: Pillar of Shame
    Type: Press releases
    Dates: 1997 | 4th June 1997
    Locations: Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China | Baptist University, Hong Kong, China | Chinese University, Hong Kong, China | Haking Wong podium at the Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, China | Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, China | Lingnan College, Hong Kong, China | Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China | University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China | Victoria Park, Hong Kong, China
    Co-operators and Helpers: Anne Lund | Art critics association, Mr Lau Kin Wai | Blue Water, forwarding agent | Cheung Man-kwong, a core member of the Hong Kong Democracy Movement | Chui Way-hang, student leader | Emely Lau, Urban Council | Erling Hoh | Georg Zoega | Hong Kong Christian Institute | Ip Kwok-chung, councillor | Jun Feng | Lasse Markus | Lene Jelling | Linda Wong Shui Hung, Students’ union, HK University | Martin Lee, MP Hong Kong | Niller Madsen | Patrick Wong Chun Sing, Students’ union, HK University | Robert Etches | Stanley Wing-Fai Ng | Students’ union, Hong Kong University
    Partners: Albert Ho | Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Democracy in China | Ocean Fung | Szeto Wah
    Related Persons and Entities: Chinese Government | Chris Patten, last British governor of Hong Kong | HK police | Hong Kong Arts Centre, Oscar Ho | Hong Kong University Social Science Institute | M+R (Metzger + Richner), forwarding agent | Recreation Committee in Hong Kong | Regional Council (in the New Territories) | SAR government | Tung Chee-hwa, HK head of government after 1st July 1997 | Urban Council Hong Kong | Urban Council, Select Committee | Xinhua (New China News Agency)
    Sponsors: BUPL | DeTrey Dentsply AG, Schweiz | Fredsfonden | Funch Fonden | Gelsted/Kirk/Scherfig fonden | Kultursekretariatet i Odense Kommune | Lysgaard Fonden | Socialpædagogernes Landsforbund / National Federation of Social Educators | Socialpædagogernes Landsforbund i Vejle | Vedstaarup Lerfabrik A/S