On 21 August, a Hong Kong court found Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China guilty of incitement to subversion of state power. Mitigation proceedings were held on 28 August, at which the court also addressed what should become of the exhibits in the case: the Hong Kong Alliance’s collection of books, and the Pillar of Shame.
Chow Hang-tung raised her concerns in court about the fate of these exhibits, noting that the Pillar of Shame does not belong to the Hong Kong Alliance but was a gift from Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, and should be returned to its creator. The Department of Justice nevertheless argued that the sculpture should be confiscated, on the grounds that the Hong Kong Alliance had “committed the offence by washing the sculpture” each year on the eve of the June Fourth anniversary.
How can washing a sculpture that commemorates the dead of June Fourth constitute a crime?
Since arriving in Hong Kong in 1997, the Pillar of Shame stood on the University of Hong Kong campus for more than twenty years, cleaned each year before the June Fourth anniversary by the Hong Kong Alliance, and became an important symbol of how Hong Kongers mourned June Fourth. In 2021, the university removed the sculpture overnight. Now it faces the possibility of confiscation.
What the Pillar of Shame has been through in recent years is a microcosm of how Hong Kongers’ memory of June Fourth is being erased step by step.
In 2022, with Galschiøt’s authorisation, our association produced a 3D-printed replica of the Pillar of Shame in Taipei, so that the memory of June Fourth could continue. Over the years in which we have held June Fourth commemorations in Taiwan, the replica has several times been splashed with paint and vandalised — attempts to suppress freedom of expression and assembly in Taiwan, and to make people fearful and hesitant about commemorating June Fourth.
The New School for Democracy Association has always believed that no one should be persecuted for peaceful mourning.
We believe the Hong Kong authorities should respect Jens Galschiøt’s ownership and his wishes, handle the Pillar of Shame appropriately, and cease treating the preservation of historical memory as a crime. For our part, we will continue our work in Taiwan to preserve the replica of the Pillar of Shame and the historical memory of June Fourth.