Pillar of shame- thousands of copies begin to spread all over the globe and a open letter

Dear

Herewith a briefing about the situation with the Pillar of Shame

3D Print: A fantastic beautiful 3D scan of the Pillar of Shame in Hong Kong has been posted on the internet for free use see link.

At the moment, many 3D printers are printing copies of the sculpture. I regularly receive photos and emails from people who are working. These small copies are used as small memorials to the Tiananmen Square massacre 4 june 1989 and placed around as both exhibition objects but also as streetart figures.

3D Print it out and join the action and spread it on social media and other platforms.

Take photo of the sculpture located in all possible and impossible places, in front of the local Chinese Embassy, or in the local parliament, on top of Mount Everest, on Mount Hong Kong, in Nepal, and New York.

You can put up copies of the sculpture at your school, university or workplace or around the city - only the imagination sets limits.

But be carefull - this is certainly not harmless art.

If you do not have access to a 3D printer, you can use this 3D photo that can be inserted into any photo that you take with your mobile. The effect can be seen from this link when you are logged in to Facebook and open it on your smartphone. Or through Instagram on this link

So the paradox is that in an attempt to remove the monument in Hong Kong, a process has been initiated in which thousands of copies begin to spread all over the globe, keeping the memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre 4 June 1989 alive.

Open letter

I have now been waiting almost 1 month for response from Hong Kong University regarding moving the sculpture, and I have received nothing.

I have therefore today sent the following open letter to the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong authorities to clarify the situation regarding The Pillar of Shame

In the letter I write that I would like to pick up the monument of the tiananmen square massacre June 4, 1989. But to be able to do that, I must have security for me and my staff and those I work with in Hong Kong not being arrested.

At the same time, the various authorities in Hong Kong need to be willing to work together to get the sculpture out of Hong Kong. Otherwise it will not be possible. See the letter under this email or download it at the link

They received the letter on 12 Nov and I am still waiting for a reply.

Yours sincerely

Jens Galschiøt

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Denmark 12. Nov. 2021

Open letter to The University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong authorities

from Jens Galschiøt, the artist behind the Monument of the Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989

My legal representative in Hong Kong has since October 12, 2021, attempted to contact The University of Hong Kong around the removal of the Monument of the Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989. We have also sent a letter to the university's legal representative Mayer Brown and have tried to get clarification and collaboration around the removal.

The Pillar of Shame, as the monument is also called, has for 24 years been exhibited at The University of Hong Kong.

We have not at the time of writing received a reply to our inquiries. I am therefore sending this open letter through the press to reach an agreement on how we can resolve the situation around the monument, which I am the rightful owner of.

I can understand from statements in the press from The University of Hong Kong, that: “a Hong Kong University spokesperson did not directly respond but told Hong Kong Free Press that they are still seeking legal advice and working with related parties to handle the matter in a legal and reasonable manner.”

I am very happy to hear this, as I am also interested in resolving the situation and getting started on moving the sculpture.

However, there are issues we must clarify and agree on first:

1. Full cooperation: The University of Hong Kong must enter into a full cooperation with myself to have the sculpture removed, otherwise it will not be possible. I need the university to assist with technical assistance, roadblocks, permits and other advisory support.

2. My presence in Hong Kong is necessary: The sculpture is very difficult to move, and it will require considerable expertise to move it from the area at the university without causing significant and irreparable damage to the costly sculpture. The move will therefore require me to personally come to Hong Kong with my team of staff who, in collaboration with local Hong Kong companies and helpers in Hong Kong, can undertake the work. The sculpture can then be transported out of Hong Kong to Denmark.

3.Immunity from prosecution: I can understand from the press that the introduction of the new security legislation in Hong Kong means that there is a legal basis for arresting foreign nationals who engage in activities that criticize China. A removal of the Monument of The Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 will lead to activities and media coverage that could be perceived as criticism of China. Therefore, I will have to get a guarantee that my employees and I will not be prosecuted in relation to the disassemblement and moving of the monument.

I propose that such an agreement is made between the responsible authorities in Hong Kong and in Denmark. I can state that I have twice been refused entry into Hong Kong by the local authorities.

The Hong Kong authorities must also guarantee that the local people and companies that I will need to work with in Hong Kong will not be prosecuted because they have helped a foreign artist remove and dismantle the monument.

It will be difficult to move forward with the planning and procedure before we get the above issues clarified. As soon as I have received a positive message about the cooperation from The University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong authorities, I will start planning the specific procedure for moving the Monument of the Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989.

I have sent this letter to my legal representative in Hong Kong and asked the representative to send the letter to the Hong Kong authorities and The University of Hong Kong's management and responsible authorities.

I believe, it is important to preserve the history of any country, and I am therefore sorry that my monument, which is a memorial to the events at The Tiananmen Square 1989 in China, is no longer welcome. Of course, I would very much have preferred for the monument to stay at The University of Hong Kong, where it has been for 24 years.

However, in full collaboration with both the university and the Hong Kong authorities, I will remove the sculpture and send it to Denmark.

With the hope of a good and constructive cooperation,

Jens Galschiøt

Contact info:

Jens Galschiøt

Banevænget 22

DK-5270 Odense N, Denmark

Tlf +45 66184058 Mobile: +45 40447058

E-mail: Jens@Galschiot.com

Background and history

See Galschiøt webside

See the press

17 Oct. 2021

China has attacked art symbol of Tiananmen Square crackdown. We won the first two battles - but everything is uncertain!

We are under attack from China in Hong Kong. In a letter the democracy movement was given a deadline of 4 days to move the 9 m high sculpture, which is a memorial to the Tiananmen square crackdown in 1989, otherwise China would destroy the sculpture that has beeb standing at Hong Kong University for 24 years.

We are quite pressed for time, so we just send this short newsletter.

Everything has been chaos since, and we have mobilized our networks all over the world to prevent the sculpture from being destroyed. And it's been successful so far.

Thousands of NGOs, artists, activists, politicians and other good people have joined the fight to preserve the sculpture, and we have succeeded to postpone the destruction of the artwork.

At the same time, it has succeeded in setting a new standard for what U.S. law firms can allow themselves to do to help the Chinese goverment. Part of the pressure to prevent the destruction of the artwork has been directed at getting the law firm Mayer Brown to withdraw from helping Hong Kong University destroy and remove the sculpture. And we succeeded on the 15th of October.

So 2 battles have been won, but it is still uncertain whether we can get the opportunity to get the sculpture out of Hong Kong.

So we need all the help we can get, by informing about China's attacks on art and freedom of speech. If necessary, Forward this email to a friend or create one yourself.

All the activities have been continuously described by a huge press campaign. We have made a selection of the articles here - good reading - you can probably find something from your own country as well.

We have posted our own press releases and all documents in the on Galschiot's website.

Although we have worked ourselves to death, this struggle for art and the Chinese's right to remember their own history is also a very life-affirming experience. The whole process shows that it is possible for ordinary people to enact a little influence on the global stage.

7.380.000 link: A quick Google search word combination "Pillar of Shame" (a word that comes specifically from this sculpture, as we created it ourselves) today gives 7.380.000 links.

"We are still alive". We have written history and shown that there are limits to what the world will allow.

All the best

Jens Galschiøt - The artist behind The Piller of Shame
and his hard-working staff

Denmark 17 Oct 2021

Email: Jens @galschiot.com

Mobile: Tlf: +45 4044 7058

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The monument in Hong Kong

In 1997, I erected an 8 meter tall monument in Hong Kong in memorial of the massacre. This monument is so far still the only memorial about the Tiananmen Square massacre on Chinese soil.

Placing this sculpture in Hong Kong cost me a permanent expulsion from China and two expulsions from Hong Kong. I think it's important that artists, cultural groups, and others that defend human rights use their freedom of speech to tell the story of the massacre. I hope that you will help in doing this.

32 years after the massacre history seems to be tragically repeating itself. Now with Hong Kong as the epicenter for youth demanding their basic Human Rights and the Chinese Government forcefully fighting down the youth. China has passed landmark legislation to force national security laws in Hong Kong, effectively crushing the city's autonomy, removing pro-democratic forces from the parliament and sending pro-democrats in jail.

In February 2020 I erected ‘A Pillar of Shame’ sculpture in front of the Danish parliament, as a protest against that China is once again using extreme force against youth people demonstrating for their democracy rights, this time in Hong Kong.

The China's National People's Congress are now directly interfering with the justice system and the freedom of speech in Hong Kong, which is an unprecedented violation of the agreement between England and China for the handover of Hong Kong. China has fundamentally changed the status of Hong Kong and basic Human and Democracy rights are no longer respected as they used to be.

I hereby encourage everyone to protest against China’s assault on Hong Kong citizens.

Let us remeber the youth that lost their life at Tiananmen Square and let us support the youth in Hong Kong, so we will not see the same tragic outcome once again.

Kind regards,

Jens Galschiøt

About Hong Kong at the moment

China’s supression of free speech is spreading to Hong Kong. Galschiot is just one of many critics who have been denied entry. So the city is deprived of a cultural exchange that is taken for granted in all open democratic societies. The expulsions are a blatant violation of the principle of ‘One country – Two systems’ that was guaranteed as part of Hong Kong’s reunion with China in ‘97.

In 2013 Galschiøt managed to enter Hong Kong to repair ‘The Pillar of Shame’. In these very years Hong Kong stands on the precipice of realizing the 1997 agreements with China, to develop a real democracy in Hong Kong. But they are under a lot of pressure from non-democratic forces. The results of these negotiations are crucial for the future of Hong Kong.

Throughout 2019 and 2020 massive demonstrations in Hong Kong took place. They fought for their basic human rights that China promised Hong Kong's citizens when they took over the country in 1997, But the peaceful demonstrations have been met with comprehensive violent force from Hong Kong's police.

Today China has passed landmark legislation to force national security laws in Hong Kong, effectively crushing the city's autonomy, removing pro-democratic forces from the parliament and sending pro-democrats in jail.

A functioning democracy on Chinese ground, even though only in Hong Kong, is an extremely important symbol for the more than one billion living in mainland China.

Useful links:

Download the documents about Tiananmen 1989

Galschiot’s activities related to China

The democracy movement in Hong Kong:

HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
E-mail: contact@alliance.org.hk, internet: http://www.alliance.org.hk/

Phone: +852 2782 6111

Contact Jens Galschiot: E-mail: aidoh@aidoh.dk, Internet: www.aidoh.dk, tel. +45 6618 4058, Banevaenget 22, DK-5270 Odense N

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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.

General information about Galschiøt can be found at:

See Wikipedia:

Portrait of the sculptors CV (PDF)

To Gallery Galschiot

To Galschot webside