Pillar of shame

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The Pillar of Shame on the Haking Wong Podium of the University of Hong Kong (2008)

Pillar of Shame , Schandmal and Pillar of Shame are names for a series of sculptures by the Danish artist Jens Galschiøt . Each sculpture is eight meters high and made of bronze , copper or concrete . So far four sculptures have been erected in Hong Kong , Rome , Acteal (in Mexico) and Brasília .

Symbolic meaning

According to Jens Galschiøt, the purpose of the sculpture is to commemorate a shameful event that should not be repeated. The torn and tangled bodies of the plastic symbolize the humiliation, devaluation and lack of respect for the individual. The black color symbolizes suffering and loss. The sculpture symbolizes the sacrifice, pain and despair that resulted from the event.

Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong

Pedestal of the Pillar of Shame

The Pillar of Shame ( Chinese 國 殤 之 柱) in Hong Kong is made of concrete. It was first installed in Victoria Park in 1997 on the eighth anniversary of the Tian'anmen Square massacre. The statue shows 50 torn and tangled bodies representing the people killed in the violent crackdown on the protests by the government. At the base of the sculpture, the history and pictures of the protests in Tian'anmen Square are engraved. Also engraved are the words “The Tiananmen Massacre” (German: Das Tian'anmen-Massaker ), “June 4th 1989” (German: June 4th 1989 , the date of the violent crackdown) and “The old cannot kill the young forever” (German: the old cannot kill the young forever ). The sculpture was first put up as a focal point during a vigil for the victims of the Tian'anmen Square massacre on June 3, 1997. After another vigil on the night of June 4, 1997, students campaigned for a permanent site. After discussions with the police and university management, students brought parts of the two-tonne concrete plastic into the podium of the Haking Wong Building at the University of Hong Kong . The plastic was not built up due to concerns about the soil being strong enough to support it. It was rebuilt in the same place on June 16, 1997.

During the following months the memorial was erected at the following universities:

On May 31, 1998, the ninth anniversary of the Tian'anmen Square massacre, the memorial was brought to Victoria Park for a vigil. The morning before the vigil, a self-proclaimed artist threw two buckets of red paint on the plastic on the grounds that "the blood of the people is also his blood" . On September 24th and 25th, 1998, the student organization The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) held a vote to re-erect the statue in the Haking Wong building. On December 3, 1998, it was placed again on the podium of the Haking Wong building. On the 10th anniversary of the 1999 massacre, the memorial was again exhibited in Victoria Park. Since then, she has been permanently on the Haking Wong Podium. A memorial service is held annually in May by the student body and The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China .

On April 30, 2008, the Pillar of Shame was painted orange. The action was part of the The Color Orange project , which publicized the critical human rights situation in the People's Republic of China. The artist Jens Galschiøt was denied entry to Hong Kong. On his behalf, the sculpture was painted by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China .

In October 2021, Alliance lawyers commissioned by the university, as the suspected owner, set a deadline of October 13 to remove the memorial from the campus, otherwise it would be regarded as abandoned property. The liquidator of the defunct Alliance, former vice-chairman of the Democratic Party Richard Tsoi, says the university should first contact the lawyers hired by the creator of the memorial before the planned removal. Galschiøt has claimed it as his property and wants it to be transported to another location without damage.

On the night of December 22nd to 23rd, 2021, the pillar of shame in Hong Kong was dismantled and transported away. The university justified the removal of the memorial, in view of the Chinese security law for Hong Kong , among other things with "legal risks".

One day later, the 6.4 meter high bronze replica of the statue " Goddess of Democracy " by the artist Chen Weiming , which stood on the grounds of the Chinese University of Hong Kong , was removed. A wall relief of the Tian'anmen massacre created by the same artist, which was installed in the main hall of the student union of Lingnan University and also contained a representation of the "goddess of democracy", was painted over.

Pillar of Shame in Rome

In 1996 a second pillar of shame was erected in front of the air terminal of Ostiense train station in Rome on the occasion of a summit conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization . The plastic represents the people who die of hunger as a result of the unequal distribution of resources.

Pillar of Shame in Acteal, Mexico

In Acteal , Chiapas state , Mexico , a third pillar of shame was erected at the site of the Acteal massacre in 1999 . In the December 1997 massacre, 45 members of the Las Abejas group were killed by paramilitary forces.

Pillar of Shame in Brazil

Pillar of Shame in Brazil in Belem

In Brasília , the capital of Brazil, a fourth pillar of shame was erected in 2000 . The memorial commemorates the victims of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre on April 17, 1996. In the massacre, 19 landless people were killed by the military police. The memorial was then moved to Belem , the capital of the state of Pará , where the massacre took place.

Pillar of Shame in Berlin (planned)

In Berlin, a fifth pillar of shame was planned to commemorate the victims of National Socialism . According to the artist's idea, Holocaust survivors should have scratched 10 million lines on the foundation. Since victims' associations showed little interest in the project, it has not yet been carried out.

Web links

Commons : Pillar of Shame  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

references

  1. ↑ The Pillar of Shame - detailed description of the art happening that are being carried out by jens Galschiot. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  2. ↑ The Color Orange - Can China ban the Color Orange - Olympic Games beijing 2008. July 20, 2017, accessed December 24, 2021 .
  3. ^ Immigration Department: Complaint about refusal to enter Hong Kong. June 16, 2008, accessed October 13, 2021 .
  4. ↑ Tom Grundy: Danish sculptor behind condemned Tiananmen Massacre statue seeks legal immunity so he can remove it from Hong Kong. November 13, 2021, accessed December 24, 2021 (UK English).
  5. ↑ Tom Grundy: University of Hong Kong removes Tiananmen Massacre monument in dead of night. 23 December 2021, accessed 24 December 2021 (UK English).
  6. ↑ Hong Kong removes Tiananmen Memorial from university campus . In: The mirror . December 23, 2021, ISSN  2195-1349 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 23, 2021]).
  7. ↑ Hong Kong. Other Tiananmen memorials removed. In: Tagesschau.de from December 24, 2021.
  8. ↑ https://amp.n-tv.de/politik/Hongkong-Weiter-Universitaeten-entfernen-Denkmaeler-article23020185.html
  9. ^ The Pillar of Shame in Rome - at the FAO Summit, 1996. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  10. ^ The Pillar of Shame in Mexico, 1999 - A memorial of the Acteal massacre. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  11. ^ The Pillar of Shame in Brazil, 2000 - A memorial of the Eldorado massacre. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Danish Pillar of Shame finds Permanent Site in Northern Brazil, Press release, 23-04-00. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  13. ↑ The mark of shame. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .
  14. ^ The Pillar of Shame in Berlin - a Memorial for the Victims of Nazi Terror. Retrieved December 24, 2021 .