PRESS RELEASE– October 30, 2025
 
The Orange Plague - at COP30
 
A tall Trump sculpture cast in bronze sitting on the back of a fragile man as the King of Injustice, with scales in hand - and a golf-club, is heading for Brazil. Along with 6,000 Mini-Trump-sculptures that are handed out. 
 
     
        Photos right to left:The bronze sculpture 2½meters incl. podium. Original 3D prints, to be handed out at the climate sumit in Brazil. More photos (scroll down)
 
 
When world leaders gather for the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, they will be met by The Orange Plague — a brutal, satirical statement about Trump’s and the United States’ attacks on the green transition and the rules-based world order, and an encouragement to work together to stand against this destructive influence.
 
The Sculpture 
Including podium the copper sculpture stands 2,5 meters tall, portraying a corpulent, nude Trump perched arrogantly on a thin young man in sneakers and shorts — an image of power imbalance and denial. In one hand Trump holds a golf club, in the other a scale of justice. Next to him, a golf ball shaped like Planet Earth lies on the ground.
 
On the pedestal is engraved the haunting inscription:
I am sitting on the back of a man.
He is sinking under my burden.
I will do anything to help him.
Except stepping down from his back.
 
Inspired by “The Emperor’s New Clothes” – with a Golf Club Twist
Artist Jens Galschiøt describes the work as a modern version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen, in which a vain ruler parades naked, believing himself dressed in the finest garments. The illusion — sustained by fear and flattery — endures until a child cries out, “He’s not wearing any clothes” - and the emperor becomes a figure of ridicule.
 
“Trump is the naked emperor, trapped in his own illusion of greatness. Everyone can see the truth — but few dare to say it aloud,” says the Artist Jens Galschiøt.
 
Using grotesque humor and theatrical exaggeration, the sculpture draws from the traditions of political satire and commedia dell’arte, where laughter is used as a weapon against fear and power. “Laughter disarms tyrants. Once the laughter begins, the fear disappears — and power stands naked,” Galschiøt adds.
 
6,000 Mini-Trumps to Invade COP30
To amplify the message, Galschiøt and his team have produced 6,000 miniature 3D-printed copies of the sculpture that will be handed out freely to delegates and activists at the summit. Each tiny Trump bears the engraving King of Injustice and The Orange Plague, along with the text I sit on the back of a man, I will do anything to help him, Except stepping down. See 3D printing in progress
 
The miniatures are part of a street-art-style action. Each small figure acts as a “sculptural outcry”, a visual protest symbol meant to spark debate and viral attention. All 3D print files for the mini-sculpture are released freely under open license. Anyone can download and print their own version of “The Orange Plague”. Get Print Files
 
The purpose of the project and why Donald Trump?
Trump is undermining the climate efforts, rolling back hard-won progress, and even destroying the scientific data that documents it. Worse yet, he is using power and economic pressure to discourage other nations from pursuing green initiatives — thereby weakening the global fight against climate change.
 
Nations as well as NGOs are afraid to openly raise the subject on how to deal with Trump and his policies, fearing tariffs, fund-cuts, deportations or the like. As an independent art workshop we are not restricted by such bonds. This sculpture has been made to address "the elephant in the room" and start a necessary debate of how the US is destroying the world’s only chance to counter the climate catastrophe and a debate on how to stand up against him.
 
Participation and Collaboration
The project “The Orange Plague” is open for collaboration with NGOs, artists, and COP30 participants.
Organizations and individuals are invited to take part by:
  • Helping to distribute the 3D-printed mini-sculptures during COP30
  • 3D-printing their own versions (Get Print Files).
  • Organizing exhibitions or events around Belém connected to the project
For coordination please contact: aidoh@aidoh.dk  - whatsapp +45 61703083
 
Galschiøt Returns to Belém – 25 Years After His “Pillar of Shame”
This is not Galschiøt’s first major intervention in Brazil. Back in 2000, Galschiøt erected a Pillar of Shame-sculpture in Belém in collaboration with Brazil’s current president Lula da Silva and the land rights movement MST, as a commemoration of the Eldorado-massacre in which 19 landless peasants were killed by military Police.
 
The sculpture still stands in Belém today as a powerful symbol of resistance. The Pillar of Shames are erected around the world as a kind of "Nobel Price" for Crimes Against Humanity. Another one is the world-famous Orange Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong. Scroll down to learn more about this. 
Pillar of Shame in general (Wikipedia)
Pillar of Shame in Brazil
 
Art as a Political Weapon at Climate Conferences 
Galschiøt is no stranger to using art as confrontation. His monumental installations have appeared at COP15 (Copenhagen), RIO+20, COP21 (Paris), COP23 (Bonn) and COP29 (Baku) — often becoming media icons and protest symbols at the summits. 
 
 
Contact 
  • Lasse Galschiøt, Co-artist and project manager
    aidoh@aidoh.dk
    Whatsapp +45 61703083
Links:
 
 
A short self-introduction by Jens Galschiøt 
I am a Danish artist who has exhibited climate related art at climate conferences all over the world, including COP15, RIO+20, COP21, COP23 and COP29, often with support from the Danish government. In my experience, art can serve as a powerful complement to the many words exchanged at a climate summit. My sculptures are often used by the media as sort of mascots for the events. They are easy to understand visual expressions of the climate issue and what is at stake at the conferences.
 
COP30 - An Art Work Says More Than a 1,000 Words
 
 
 
When a Danish sculptor raised a pillar of shame in front of Brazil’s Congress, art turned into politics and politics into art. Twenty-five years later, the sculpture still stands as a reminder of the country’s wounds – and of the courage to point a finger.
 
When Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt stood before Brazil’s National Congress in April 2000, surrounded by banners, police, and thousands of landless peasants, he wasn’t just raising a sculpture — he was issuing an indictment.

An eight-metre-tall column of twisted human bodies — The Pillar of Shame — was lifted into the sky on the anniversary of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, where 19 members of the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) were shot dead by military police in 1996.
 
Galschiøt called the work “The  pillar of shame” — a monument for those places in the world where power meets abuse. “A pillar of shame is not meant to decorate — it’s meant to wake people up,” he said at the time.

A Danish project in the storm of Brazilian politics
The initiative met both admiration and resistance. On one side stood the MST, the world’s largest peasant movement, led by João Pedro Stédile, who saw Galschiøt’s project as a tool to draw attention to their struggle for land reform and human rights. On the other side stood conservative politicians who denounced the sculpture as “inappropriate” and tried to block it in customs.
 
The alliance between the artist and the movement was supported by Senator Heloísa Helena of the Workers’ Party (PT), one of the most uncompromising voices in Brazil’s Congress. She helped secure the necessary permits and acted as a political protector when opposition grew. “This sculpture is the voice of conscience in our democracy,” she declared at the unveiling.
 
From Brasília to Belém
After the ceremony in the capital, the Pillar of Shame was transported north to the state of Pará — near the site of the massacre itself. There it was received by Edmilson Rodrigues, the mayor of Belém at the time.
Rodrigues, then a PT member and now mayor for the left-wing PSOL party, officially incorporated the monument into the city’s public art collection. “This work should remind us that justice is not only a legal term but a responsibility,” he said at the hand-over. Since then, the sculpture has stood in Belém as a physical and moral landmark — a reminder of the day when art crossed the line between aesthetics and activism.
 
A collaboration across continents
Galschiøt’s Brazilian project was built through a network that connected artistic resistance with political mobilisation.
  • Lula da Silva, presidential candidate
  • Heloísa Helena, senator and later presidential candidate, gave the project parliamentary legitimacy.
  • João Pedro Stédile and MST organised logistics, volunteers, and security during the installation.
  • Edmilson Rodrigues, as mayor, gave the sculpture a permanent home in Belém.
Together they forged an alliance in which art became a means to renegotiate truth and accountability in the public sphere.
 
A monument against forgetting
For Galschiøt, the Pillar of Shame in Brazil was part of a wider series — Pillars of Shame and protest raised in cities such as Hong Kong and Mexico.

Brazil was special. “It was a place where you could feel that art had consequences,” says Jens Galschiøt today. “There was risk, resistance — but also the hope that art could actually change something.” The sculpture became both a memorial for the dead and a mirror for the living. It has been used by MST in demonstrations, commemorations, and human-rights education.
 
A living legacy
Twenty-five years later, the people behind the project are still active.
  • Edmilson Rodrigues once again serves as mayor of Belém, focusing on climate and social justice.
  • João Pedro Stédile remains a leading figure of MST and now collaborates with President Lula’s government on land reform.
  • Heloísa Helena works as a teacher and public intellectual, still an outspoken voice in Brazilian politics.
  • Lula da Silva is now president of Brazil.
And the Pillar of Shame? It still stands. Weathered by the Amazon’s humidity, marked with graffiti and adorned with flowers left by MST activists each April 17. For many Brazilians, the Danish sculpture is no longer a foreign object but part of the nation’s own memory — a monument that still points its finger, not only at the past, but at the structures of power that shape the present.
 
Galschiøt Returns to Belém
Now, twenty-five years later, a Galschiøt returns to Belém — this time in connection with COP30. It is not Jens, but his son, Lasse Galschiøt, who follows in his father’s footsteps. He arrives with a new and controversial artwork: a 2.5-metre bronze sculpture of a naked Donald Trump, symbolising what he calls “Trump’s attempt to kill the climate movement and the green transition.”
 
Unlike his father’s monumental Pillar of Shame, this new piece is not meant to stand still. The sculpture will be moved through public spaces in Belém during the climate summit, highlighting what the artist describes as Trump’s efforts to sabotage decisions to reduce CO₂ emissions and halt global warming.
 
Alongside the large sculpture, Lasse brings over 6,000 miniature versions — small 3D printed figures to be distributed among COP30 delegates as a tactile reminder of the connection between political denial and climate destruction.
 
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Survival of the Fattest / Double Standard
 
The Orange Plague or God of Injustice is a new interpretation of the sculpture Survival of the Fattest that was exhibited at COP15 and COP29. The sculpture is extremely popular in Brazil and the rest of the world. For example more than 500.000 have shared the photo of the sculpture on facebook
 
 
 
 
Take a look for yourself at our interactive map.
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Take a Virtual Tour around Galschiøt's Gallery with Google Street View
 
It is now possible to walk directly into Gallery Galschiøt and look around. So now the whole world can come visit, without having to travel halfway around the world. Of course, we still hope that our many thousands of annual guests will stop by and look at art and drink coffee. Click here and take a virtual tour.
 
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About Jens Galschiøt
 
Danish artist Jens Galschiøt has created many socio-critical sculptures and installations through the years. Most often they are placed in public spaces around the world – as needle-sticks and silent reminders of a world that, in his opinion, is out of balance, and where exploitation of the world’s resources, inequality and migration are a constant part of the picture.
 
 
The Pillar of Shame in front of the Brazilian Parliament, year 2000
 
 
 
 
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