Farewell to a friend: Niller Madsen 1958-2024 – documentarian, TV host, and an integral part of Team Galschiøt.
Thousands of 3D-printed sculptures
2024 started with purchasing a 3D printer, and throughout the year, our 3D printing enthusiasm developed. We scanned sculptures such as Survival of the Fattest,My Inner Beast, and The Hunger Boys down to millimeter precision. With Galschiøt’s signature on the small sculptures, we could distribute personal sculptural messages in connection with happenings. The files are also available online so you can 3D print your own Galschiøt sculptures for free. See for yourself.
The 3D sculptures are made of corn starch, meaning they are biodegradable under the right conditions. However, they still shouldn't be thrown in nature, as they first break down into micro-particles and, reportedly, are entirely gone after 80 years—which is still far better than plastic!
1,000 Pillars of Shame, art censorship, exhibition in the EU, and hate-mails from China
Artwashing and Art Censorship: The small 3D-sculptures quickly found their purpose when China began using the art world to whitewash their authoritarian takeover of Hong Kong. Galschiøt responded promptly by initiating the project “1,000 Pillars of Shame”. We 3D-printed small Pillars of Shame as a protest icon against Western art elite such as Art Basel, which practices political art censorship in Hong Kong, thus becoming useful idiots for China which in return funds Art Basel with millions of dollars. Meanwhile Hong Kong’s artists and democrats are in prison, and Galschiøt’s Pillar of Shame is confiscated.
"Stop Western Art Washing of Hong Kong" and other phrases can be seen under the small 3D-printed Pillars of Shame-figurines. Over the coming years the statues will be distributed to Hong Kong supporters worldwide, who will place them at Western auction houses, museums, etc. This way, we’ll draw attention to the art world’s degeneration and responsibility. We’re working on creating Pillar of Shame action packs; if you’d like to participate as an anti-art-censorship activist, feel free to contact us.
Exhibition in the EU Parliament: The event continued with an exhibition of another Pillar of Shame in front of the EU Parliament, along with politically censored artworks from Hong Kong (scroll down to view the artworks). The exhibition was organized in collaboration with a broad coalition of EU Parliament members, led by Denmark’s Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (Socialist People’s Party). Inside the Parliament, public debates were held about China’s human rights violations and the Western-backed art censorship in Hong Kong. The indifference of the Western art elite towards political art censorship led Galschiøt to compare the situation to the Oscar-winning film Zone of Interest, in which a family lives an idyllic life just a stone’s throw from a concentration camp.The exhibition was ill-received by China, which issued thinly veiled threats to the EU parliamentarians. In response, the EU Parliament issued an official declaration of support for the Pillar of Shame to China.
Hong Kong Culture in the Dutch Parliament in The Hague:In April, the entire Hong Kong diaspora gathered for an impressive symposium at the Dutch Parliament in The Hague (Netherlands) on Art and Culture in Hong Kong. The Pillar of Shame was displayed alongside censored artworks from Hong Kong (scroll down to view the artworks). It was a moving experience with a people whose homeland has been taken from them, now trying to find their footing in the world as they are scattered across the globe.
Award to Former Estonian President Kaja Kallas: In March, Galschiøt was invited to New York to present the Heroes of Democracy award to former Estonian President Kaja Kallas at a grand gala event. The owner of the philanthropic Lodestar Foundation is a great admirer of Galschiøt’s work and has purchased several models of the Pillar of Shame. Unfortunately, Galschiøt had to cancel his visit due to illness.
World Leaders and Democracy Festival: In Denmark, world leaders and democracy enthusiasts attending the Alliance of Democracies conference in May were able to see the Pillar of Shame and take home a 3D-printed replica in support. In June, the same setup was featured at the cultural stage of the Democracy Festival (Folkemødet).
Although we usually write about all the activities we do around the world, it is in fact at Galschiøts Gallery in Odense (Denmark) that Galschiøt and his Galleristas have their daily life. In addition to being a gallery and a working studio, we have a series of events throughout the year, as well as 14 bronze casting workshops where participants could make their own sculptures.Take a virtual look around the gallery on streetview.
The Shop and Smaller Sculptures: As a private business without subsidies, we naturally need funds to cover the costs of the above activities and our general operations. This is financed through the sale of smaller sculptures in the gallery shop, as well as through gallery events and large sculpture installations.
Major Sculpture Installations in 2024
B&W Workers: A new iconic sculpture on Christianshavn in the center of Copenhagen.
Your Perception: Sculpture installation at the Comwell Spa Hotel.
Paraplyen– Sponsor sculptures for the supporters of the social aware Café Paraplyen.
The H.C. Andersen Prize– Awarded to someone who enhances knowledge of the Danish national poet in other parts of the world.
The Kravling Prize – For media students in the categories of journalism, design, photography, and communication.
The Vicory Prize – Awards for volunteer sports leaders of the year, sports personalities, best teammates, etc.
Galschiøt Turns 70! On June 4, Jens Galschiøt turned 70. He celebrated with a grand opening reception at the gallery with music, speeches, and delicious food and drink!
Mexican Paintings. In the fall, the Mexican painter Rey Morales stayed at the Gallery and, before returning home, produced a beautiful exhibition of his paintings called Centre of the Earth.
A Tribute to OSR TV and Farewell to Niller Madsen In August, we lost our friend Niller Madsen, who had been battling illness through 2024. Niller followed Galschiøt’s happenings through thick and thin as a cameraman and documentarian, dating back to before we set up the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong in 1997. Along the way, we shared a wealth of wonderful and wild experiences, and he will be truly missed.
OSR TV: Niller also ran the local TV station Odense Ser Rødt (OSR TV), which he managed for 40 years. This milestone was celebrated with a large anniversary event at the gallery, which also became a tribute to Niller’s life and his tireless work to give society’s most vulnerable a voice.
Documentary Films: In addition to being enormously engaging and well-made, Niller’s many documentaries and reports on Galschiøt’s happenings are an invaluable historical record of Galschiøt’s work. Click here for an overview. Fortunately, OSR TV continues under the TV station’s dedicated staff and will go on documenting Galschiøt’s activities—see, for example, the COP29 coverage.
Alongside the above activities, we spent the whole year preparing for COP29—the climate conference in Baku. Here, Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen and Galschiøt laid out a large-scale plan to exhibit the sculpture Survival of the Fattest. Since Azerbaijan is a logistical nightmare for transporting sculptures, we decided to create three “small” sculptures that could fit into airline luggage. It was certainly not easy! But thanks to our workshop leader Kurt’s ingenuity, blood, sweat, and tears, we succeeded.
The sculptures were exhibited at the climate summit after an arm-wrestling match with UN bureaucracy, Vogue-NGOs worried about “fat-shaming” (thus Survival of the Fattest was temporarily renamed to Double Standard), Danish COP29 accreditations, Airline baggage regulations, The Danish COP29 stall's (i.e., Danish industry’s!) broken promises and much more
3D-Printed Survival of the Fattest / Double Standard Figurines
The sculpture was extremely well received, and we handed out 2,000 3D-printed mini figurines to highlight the developing world’s demand for climate compensation. Among others, the exhibition was visited by Danish MPs and Climate Minister Lars Aagaard. Participants from third-world countries such as Bangladesh recognized themselves in the sculpture (as the little figure, with the “West” on top) and have encouraged us to keep using it in the ongoing climate fight.
2025
2024 was quite a mouthful. As always, we expect 2025 to be a bit calmer—though it has never, so far, turned out that way!
COP30: We already know that the 2025 climate summit, COP30, will take place in Belém, Brazil. There is already a Pillar of Shame in the city, commemorating a massacre of landless peasants. In November, we plan a to bring a large number of Galschiøt climate sculptures to the summit. We are in contact with the region’s Minister of Culture, and with Denmark as the EU host, we have a responsibility to show European initiative at the summit—perhaps with sculptures.
Talking Statues: Before that, 'our' Statue of a Dock Worker in Copenhagen is scheduled to “speak,” and the Aarhus Dockers sculpture might do so as well.
There are also countless other activities in the works for 2025, including the unveiling of two huge statues. But you can read about that in our upcoming newsletters.
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.