Pillar of Shame Still not Resolved, Almost a Year Later

The Pillar of Shame had stood in HKU campus since 1998

Hard to believe but it's been almost a year since the Pillar of Shame sculpture was unceremoniously taken down from the University of Hong Kong campus and packaged up, and stored in an undisclosed location.

Since then Danish artist Jens Galschiot has been trying to locate it to bring back to Europe.

But he's only heard radio silence.

"Now, I cannot even get information about where my sculpture is," the artist said in a statement, adding the work appeared to be damaged when it was taken down on December 22, 2021 in the middle of the night. "It's quite frustrating," he said.

Jens Galschiot is calling for the statue's return

Instead of moping about it, Galschiot has escalated his campaign by teaming up with Hong Kong-based NGOdei to do an augmented reality campaign, calling for the return fo the artwork.

Participants can download the AR (augmented reality) app and digitally place the sculpture in any location in the world, take a picture and then upload it onto social media with the hashtag #returnthepillar.

In addition people can use the 3D files of the sculpture and print a 3D model of the work, which remembers the tragedy of the June 4 massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Galschiot is hoping greater awareness of the sculpture will in turn lead to the return of the work to him.

Previously he had offered to go to Hong Kong personally to pick up the sculpture, and his lawyers have reached out to the university's lawyers to come to some kind of agreement, but the HKU lawyers say they have not received any instructions from the university on what to do with the Pillar of Shame.

The 23-foot tall sculpture was first erected in Hong Kong on the eight anniversary of the crackdown. 

The statue was dismantled late at night

The removal of the sculpture came a year and a half after the national security law was implemented, and the university was criticised for the way it handled the whole matter, from its reasons for taking it down to how they made sure it was dismantled at night, and eventually other tertiary institutions scrubbed their campuses clear of any reference to June 4.

One would think HKU would want to end this incident quietly and quickly by returning it -- but the longer it digs in its heels and refuses to resolve things, the worse the university's name will be in terms of reputation outside of Hong Kong.

Why not do the end honourable thing and give it back? Burying it forever will not end the matter...