A monument at a Hong Kong university that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre was removed by workers yesterday over the objections of its Danish creator.
The 8m Pillar of Shame, which depicts 50 torn and twisted bodies piled on top of each other, was created by sculptor Jens Galschiot to symbolize the lives lost during the bloody military crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
Workers barricaded the monument at the University of Hong Kong on Wednesday night.
Photo: AFP
Drilling sounds and loud clanging could be heard coming from the boarded-up site, which was patrolled by guards.
The removal happened in the same week that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) traveled to Beijing to report on developments in the territory, where authorities have silenced dissent following the implementation of a sweeping National Security Law that appeared to target democracy advocates following mass protests in 2019.
The Pillar of Shame became an issue in October, with the university demanding that it be removed, even as rights advocates protested.
Galschiot offered to take it back to Denmark, provided he was given legal immunity that he would not be prosecuted under the security law, but has not succeeded so far.
“No party has ever obtained any approval from the university to display the statue on campus, and the university has the right to take appropriate actions to handle it at any time,” the university said in a statement yesterday.
“Latest legal advice given to the university cautioned that the continued display of the statue would pose legal risks to the university based on the Crimes Ordinance enacted under the Hong Kong colonial government,” it said.
Galschiot said he was only aware of what was happening to the sculpture on Wednesday from social media and other reports.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but I fear they destroy it,” he said. “This is my sculpture and it is my property.”
Galschiot said that he would sue the university if necessary to protect the sculpture.
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