Pillar of Shame

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The Pillar of Shame is a 8-metre tall bronze, copper or concrete statue, sculpted by Danish artist Jens Galschiot. Currently, five sculptures have been erected in Rome, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil and Berlin.

1 Symbolism
2 Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong
3 Gallery
4 External links

[edit] Symbolism

According to Jens Galschiot ^[1], the sculpture is used to remind people of a shameful event which must never reoccur. The torn and twisted bodies of the sculpture symbolize the degradation, devaluation and lack of respect for the individual. The black colour symbolizes grief and loss and the sculpture, which represents the victims, expresses the pain and the despair of the event. It can be used by both sides in complicated conflict situations, where it can be difficult to point out the guilty party.

[edit] Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong

The Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong is a concrete sculpture, first erected in the Victoria Park of Hong Kong in 1997 to mark the eighth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The statue depicts 50 torn and twisted bodies to symbolize those who died in the government crackdown. On the base of the statue, the history and pictures of the massacre are carved in Chinese and English. Engraved into the base of the sculpture, in both English and Chinese, are the words "The Tiananmen Massacre", "June 4th 1989" and "The old cannot kill the young forever."

The Pillar was first exhibited as a focal point at the 8th anniversary candlelight vigil in commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protests on June 3, 1997. Immediately following the candlelit vigil on the night of June 4, 1997, local university students fought for a place to settle the statue. After the scuffles with the police and controversy with the university leadership, at 3 a.m. students succeeded in moving the 2-tonne statue into the podium of the Haking Wong Building at the University of Hong Kong. The Pillar was re-erected at the same place on April 16, 1997 under bad weather conditions.

During the following months, the Pillar was exhibited at the following universities:

Chinese University of Hong Kong from September 28, 1997
Lingnan College from November 2, 1997
Hong Kong Baptist University from November 29, 1997
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from January 23, 1998
Hong Kong Polytechnic University from March 1, 1998
City University of Hong Kong from March 29, 1998.

On May 31, 1998, the ninth anniversary of the Tianenmen Square protests, the Pillar was returned to Victoria Park where a candlelit vigil was held. On the morning before the vigil, a self-professed artist splashed two buckets of red paint onto the Pillar, claiming that "the blood of people is also my blood."

On the 24th and 25th of September 1998, The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) held a general poll on the motion for having the Pillar of Shame remain at the University of Hong Kong on a long-term basis.

The motion was successfully carried, and the Pillar was moved into the Haking Wong Podium again on December 3, 1998. It was again exhibited at the 10th anniversary candlelit vigil of the Massacre in 1999 at Victoria Park. Since then, the Pillar has remained on display at the Haking Wong podium; a silent tribute is held by HKUSU and The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China in May every year.