Danish sculptor seeks return of Pillar of Shame
HKFP · 2 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt has written to Hong Kong’s High Court to demand the return of the Pillar of Shame, the sculpture that became an exhibit in the Hong Kong Alliance incitement to subversion case. In the letter, he said he owns the eight-metre-tall work and had lent it to the Alliance in 1997 for permanent display in Hong Kong. He asked the court not to order confiscation or destruction, and said he would appoint agents and professional transport specialists to ship it back to Denmark rather than travel to Hong Kong himself. The court has not yet ruled on the prosecution’s confiscation request and said the matter would be handled together with sentencing.
Key Points
- Galschiøt sent the letter to the High Court last Friday, asserting ownership and requesting the sculpture’s return after the case is concluded.
- The Pillar of Shame stood on the University of Hong Kong campus for more than two decades before it was removed in 2021
- Prosecutors sought confiscation after the Hong Kong Alliance, Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan were convicted of inciting subversion under the national security law
- According to the prosecution, the Alliance had used cleaning of the sculpture to promote the slogan “end one-party dictatorship.”
- Galschiøt said he would not come to Hong Kong personally, but would work with the court and police to arrange professional transport to Denmark.
Why It Matters
The dispute leaves the court to decide whether an artwork used as trial evidence should be returned to its claimed owner or confiscated after a national security conviction. For Hong Kong readers, the outcome will affect how politically sensitive cultural objects tied to dissolved civic groups are handled once criminal proceedings end.