Pillar of Shame in Hongkong 2021

Latest news October 12. oct. of jens galschiøt

"The empire passes away - but art persists" 

If The Pillar Of Shame is crushed now I would urge everyone who goes out to Hong Kong University to collect as many pieces of the Pillar of Shame as possible. These pieces may be used to make some symbolic manifestation that "Empires passes away - but art persists"  

As now only 17  hours (October 13 at 5 PM  HK time) left before the Tiananmen Square sculpture to be destroyed in Hong Kong.

Here is the latest statement about the situation in Hong Kong regarding the removal and possible destruction of the memorial

Galschiøt has now got a lawyer in Hong Kong

Galschiøt has now got a lawyer in Hong Kong to represent him before the University of Hong Kong and Mayer Brown. The lawyer has written a letter on my behalf requesting a hearing on the situation, and this letter was sent off today, October 12 at 11 am Hong Kong time.

The lawyer and I will try to resolve the situation amicably and with satisfaction for both parties if possible. However, it is unfortunate that the law firm's name cannot be revealed at the moment as they need the peace of mind to negotiate on my behalf.
Of course, I hope that my ownership of the sculpture will be respected and that I will be able to transport the sculpture out of Hong Kong under orderly conditions and without it having suffered from any damage.

I am, of course, deeply concerned that if it will not succeed and that the sculpture will be destroyed in connection with the move and I would like to emphasize that I consider any damage to the sculpture to be the responsibility of the university.

The Danish parliament is protesting the move.

I have been in contact with a number of politicians in the Danish parliament who express their concern about the development and demanded the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod to go into the matter and guarantee to contact the Chinese embassy and demand that they be taken care of the Danish property in Hong Kong and offers necessary help to bring the sculpture out of Hong Kong so that the monument over Tiananmen Square can be sailed out of Hong Kong and can be erected in a safe place,

It is almost all the parties from left to right that are behind these inquiries to the Danish Foreign Minister to intervene.

The disturbing development of the event has also raised concern in the US parliament as I have received
some information from several members of the US Congress and the Senate who also making efforts to avoid the destruction of the sculpture and memorial in Hong Kong. You can get more information about these initiatives by contacting Gabriel Noronha +16033436877 I USA

The pressure on Mayer Brown is also increasing from the political team in the USA to the grassroots movements that mainly use social media as a platform.

I have received many emails about it and can see that there is a bigger wave heading towards the US law firm Mayer Brown representing the University of Hong Kong.

The shame pillar has been scanned and is being copied into the streets of Hong Kong

I have been in contact with young Chinese in Hong Kong and give them permission to use the sculpture as a kind of support. They are just at the moment in the process of making 3D scans of the shame pillar and producing mini sculptures with which they will make strict actions in the streets of Hong Kong

And even before these sculptures have been finished, there is a great interest in having some of them exhibited abroad. B.la to a meeting of parliamentarians in Rome in the autumn

There are many thousands of newspaper articles in the world's

There are many thousands of newspaper articles in the world's archives that mention the sculpture in Hong Kong. I have been a little overwhelmed by how much media attention there has been. It is on all platforms and from all over the world. It is very uplifting as I think that the great attention is important to prepare the sculpture and thus ensure that there is still a memorial mark over Tiananmen Square.

The documents around Tiananmen Square are in Galschiøt's workshop.

When I staged the Pillar of Shame over 24 years ago in Hong Kong in 1997, there was great uncertainty about what would happen to all the documents that the alliance had gathered about what exactly happened in Tiananmen Square in the days around 4d. June 1989.
 This is over 4000 pages of thorough documentation about the events which it has been a very big job to collect and to ensure that there was a copy of the document collections outside Hong Kong. I got the document collection in copy and have kept them in my workshop.
I then scanned these documents and have put them up for free use on the internet. For the last 20 years, every June 4th on the anniversary, the massacre has sent over 90,000 e-mails urging you to download these documents and put them in libraries and pass the link on to e.g. fellow Chinese students at one's education institute.

Here is some links to the documents surrounding the massacre in 1989 4th June 89 - Documentation -- (aidoh.dk)  

Best regards,

Jens Galschiøt – Denmark, 12. of Oct. - 2021

Mobil: +45 40 44 70 58  Phone: +45 66184058

E-mail: Jens@Galschiot.com

Webside:

www.gailschiot.com    -   www.aidoh.dk