Pillar of Contention

Looking down at the Pillar of Shame in HKU

Early this morning Tropical Storm Lionrock finally left after 22 hours, the longest a typhoon has lingered since 1978. The Hong Kong Observatory lowered the signal to T3 and then by afternoon all signals were cancelled.

At lunchtime I went to the University of Hong Kong to see for the first and possibly the last time, the sculpture Pillar of Shame by Danish artist Jens Galschiot, commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Closeup of Galschiot's sculpture

The university's management has sent a letter via its lawyers to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China to remove the statue by Wednesday October 13 at 5pm or it will be deemed abandoned.

However Galschiot has weighed in on the situation, saying if the university's management damages the statue, he will seek compensation for it.

He said the statue is not for them to throw away as there was no purchase contract nor any payment made, so in principle the statue belongs to him.

"I am baffled since I have not received any official request to move my sculpture," he said. "I wonder why I am being informed about this through the press."

According to Galschiot, it has been agreed that the alliance and HKU should administer the permanent exhibition together and bear the attending expenses.

"It will take a long time to move the sculpture," he warned. "It is an extremely valuable piece of art, which after 24 years probably is a bit frail. Therefore there is a great possibility that the work of art will suffer irreparable damage if handled by an others than experts in handling art.

"If, contrary to expectations, damage to the sculpture should occur, the university risks incurring a claim of compensation for that damage."

HKU threatening to remove it Oct 13

I saw the sculpture as students and workers were queuing up for lunch in the canteen next to the Pillar of Shame, while a few visitors like myself examined the 8-metre-high sculpture that weighs 2 tonnes. There are steel cables at the top to prevent it from toppling over perhaps in typhoon conditions, but as it has been there since 1997, wear and tear has certainly made it more fragile.

This is now a stand off between Galschiot and HKU -- the alliance is trying to quietly disband and disappear without further repercussions. But it seems Galischiot is not giving up the fight and it will be interesting to see what happens this Wednesday...