Pillar of Shame Confiscated as Evidence

The Pillar of Shame when it stood in the HKU campus

The saga of the sculpture paying homage to the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre continues with it being confiscated by the police yesterday, apparently related to a national security case.

The Pillar of Shame, which had been taken apart, wrapped up and hidden in the University of Hong Kong's Kadoorie Centre in Yuen Long, was taken by the police as evidence for a subversion case.

Since 1997, the eight-metre tall sculpture featuring people in an organic pyramid, was standing at the HKU campus until it was dismantled in the middle of the night by a crew in hard hats in December 2021.

It was removed late one night in December 2021

When Jens Galschiot, the artist who made the sculpture heard about the latest development from the media, he slammed the operation as "outrageous", as he said he was the owner of the artwork and no one had consulted him on the matter.

He wrote a message on his newsletter which read in full:

I just got the news from the media about the removing of the Pillar of Shame from Hong Kong University. This is outrageous. This is my sculpture and nobody has consulted or informed me about anything.

I have heard that the sculpture will be used as evidence under the national security law, but this makes no sense to me.

The pillar was placed in Hong Kong, before Hong Kong was handed over by the British. It is an art piece made and exhibited by a Danish artist (me) as his personal project. The initiative has been mine, nobody has incited me to put it there, and I personally paid all expenses for it. 

I cannot see how they can use the sculpture under the national security law. The Democratic Alliance and many Hongkongers have been assisting me putting the sculpture in Hong Kong, but so has shipping companies, crane firms and University of Hong Kong. Even Hong Kong authorities has given permission for me to put it up and move it around.

Though I am deeply touched that the Pillar is used this way in Hong Kong, the events confirm the that symbolic language of art cannot be crushed, and only gets stronger when attacked. The Pillar of Shame and talks about the June 4th massacre hasn’t been more present than now. Hong Kong (China!) took down the pillar but got a 1000 back. It appears as 3D prints all over the world, as AI and as banners.

 

Galschiot continues to demand sculpture back

Sincerely yours,
Jens Galschiot, May 5^th, 2023

 

The security bureau released a statement replying to Galschiot in part: "Some organisations attempted to mislead the public in the name of artistic freedom and requested to return the evidence, smearing the police's legal action with insensible blame, undermining law and the rule of law."

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said the removal of the statue had nothing to do with the upcoming June 4 anniversary, and that the operation was done according to the ongoing investigation.

"The legal proceedings are still ongoing. I cannot reveal any details... We will continue to search for more evidence to support the prosecution work," he said.

The organiser of Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil -- the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriot Democratic Movements of China -- together with three of its leading members, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho Chun-yah, and Chow Hang-tung have been charged with inciting subversion under the national security law.

The chances of Galschiot retrieving his sculpture have dimmed significantly now that it has been confiscated as "evidence"...

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...