23rd December 2021 – (Hong Kong) The Pillar of Shame, which has been erected on the campus of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for more than 24 years and created by the Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt to commemorate the 4th June 1989 incident was removed last night at around 10pm.
5 to 6 workers in reflective clothing hanged a giant white straight banner in front of the Pillar of Shame. Security guards were present at the entrance of Every entrance and exit of the Haking Wong Building.
Starting at 3 o’clock in the morning today (23rd), several workers moved the sculpture which was dismantled into several parts to a container with the assistance of a crane. At around 6am, the last part of the sculpture was placed into the container.
About 40 minutes later, the container loaded with the sculpture was lifted by a boom onto the container truck. It then left the campus of HKU at about 7am in the morning.
HKU emphasised that the university has never approved any individual or group to place the statue on campus and has the right to take appropriate actions at any time. The university is extremely concerned about the potential safety issues caused by the poor condition of the statue. According to the legal opinion recently consulted by the university, it is believed that continuing to allow the statue to be displayed on campus will bring the university a legal risk of violating the Hong Kong National Law. The school committee instructed the university to properly follow up after removing the statue and continue to seek legal advice on appropriate arrangements.
Meanwhile, Jens Galschiøt, the owner of the sculpture, issued a statement early this morning, stating that he was shocked by the removal of the Pillar of Sorrow by the HKU and that the incident was unreasonable. He said that he had written to the HKU in the past three months to express his willingness to remove the sculpture. He said that if the sculpture was damaged, he would consider claiming compensation from HKU.
