The University of Hong Kong has ordered the removal of a sculpture commemorating protesters killed in China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The 26-foot copper sculpture was the centerpiece of Hong Kong’s candlelit vigils on 4 June 2021, to commemorate those killed when Chinese troops backed by tanks opened fire on unarmed pro-democracy campaigners in Beijing.
The sculpture, called the Pillar of Shame, shows 50 anguished faces and tortured bodies piled on one another and has been on display at Hong Kong’s oldest university for more than two decades.
The decision was blasted by the sculpture’s Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt, who said its removal illustrated the ongoing purge of dissent in the once outspoken and semi-autonomous business hub.
In a legal letter to the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance (HKA) – the organizer of the city’s huge annual Tiananmen vigil – the university demanded the group “immediately … make arrangements for the sculpture to be removed from the university’s premises” by 5 pm on 13 October 2021.
“If you fail to remove the sculpture … it will be deemed abandoned,” the letter said.
It added that the university will deal with the sculpture in a manner it sees fit without further notice.
Richard Tsoi, a former member of HKA’s standing committee, said the university’s request was “unreasonable” and he has asked its chancellor to keep the sculpture.
“As a space with free speech and academic freedom, the University of Hong Kong has the social responsibility and mission to preserve the Pillar of Shame,” Tsoi said.
“…shocked if there were plans to desecrate the only memorial to such a consequential and important event in Chinese history…”
Galschiøt said he was “shocked if there were plans to desecrate the only memorial to such a consequential and important event in Chinese history”.
“I wish that the Pillar stays in Hong Kong, at the same place as it stands today. That would be historically correct. The pillar is an important artwork that has a historic link to Hong Kong and should stay on Chinese land,”
“I wish that the Pillar stays in Hong Kong, at the same place as it stands today. That would be historically correct. The pillar is an important artwork that has a historic link to Hong Kong and should stay on Chinese land,” he said.
The university said its request was “based on the latest risk assessment and legal advice”.
Read the entire story here with our content partners at The Guardian.
Photo credit: Source.
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