The Pillar of Shame painted ORANGE!
Hong Kong, April 30, 3pm:
***** The Pillar of Shame painted Orange *****
The eight meter tall sculpture The Pillar of Shame
was today painted orange by the Chinese Democracy Movement
We have just received photos and uploaded them to the internet at:
http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/page160
The authorities had tried to obstruct the painting of the sculpture by denying the Danish artist Jens Galschiot and his staff access to Hong Kong as they landed in the airport on April 26. The expulsion has caused wide discussions in Hong Kong about whether China is now introducing their own visa rules and censorship on to Hong Kong. The Danish artist has been in Hong Kong several times before and is known for making peaceful art installations. He has put up The Pillar of Shame which has become a renowned memorial about the massacre on the Tienanmen square in Beijing 1989.
The Chinese Democracy Movement decided to paint the sculpture orange by themselves to put focus on Human Rights in China and show support to the world wide project TheColorOrange about using Orange in connection to the Olympic Games 2008 to boost the awareness about the Human Rights violations in China. The painting of the sculpture was made by students from the University of Hong Kong and by Chinese members of the Democracy Movement which has its base in Hong Kong. Amongst others the Movement counts the chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Union, Cheuk Yan Lee, the poet Szeto Wah, the Human Rights lawyer Albert Ho, the activist and artist Longhair, and several Hong Kong MPs.
The painting of the sculpture was covered by TV channels and newspapers from all over the world as many had come to Hong Kong to cover the arrival of the Olympic Torch on Chinese ground (Hong Kong) on 2nd May. So they used the opportunity to cover also the painting of The Pillar of Shame, an event with the purpose of focusing the Olympic Games 2008. But the media’s attention had also increased dramatically due to the expulsion of the Danish group. So it seems that the Hong Kong authorities have shot themselves in the foot.
Jens Galschiot declares from his workshop in Denmark:
“It’s amazing to see the photos from Hong Kong knowing that my TheColorOrange has got its own life and is spreading independently of me. This is ideal from my view as an artist. It is a testimony that the campaign has become a cornerstone in the debates about the OG2008. It will be a manifest way of saying that China does not comply with its human rights obligations.”
Jens Galschiot is today a happy artist.
***********
*The main international news agencies have vastly covered the events and can provide features, photos, videos, etc.
*More detailed information, photos, videos about the Orange activities in HK: http://www.TheColorOrange.net/uk/page144
*Contact to TheColorOrange in Denmark:
Jens Galschiot, Banevaenget 22, DK-5270 Odense N
Tel. +45 6618 4058, evening +45 6614 4038, mobile +45 4044 7058
E-mail: contact@TheColorOrange.net, WWW.TheColorOrange.net
*Contact to Danish Orange photographer in Hong Kong:
Niller Madsen, TV Documentary: +45 40 215 415
*For information about the activities in HK contact the Hongkong Alliance (the democracy movement in Hong Kong):
Secretary Ocean Fung +852 2782 6111
E-mail contact@alliance.org.hk, internet www.alliance.org.hk
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Orange
Thanks for passing this interesting information along, Janet. It is going to be interesting to see how the Chinese handle all this and the wearing of Orange.
Go Illini!
As a former long-term resident of Champaign IL, the home of the University of Illinois where I taught for a few years and from where two of my sons graduated, I gotta love this use of Orange. Although the official school colors are Orange and Navy Blue, fans wear Orange and the student cheering section at sports events is called The Orange Crush. (With the establishment of a charitable foundation based on the money raised by "Orange Crush" activities, "Crush" was changed to "Krush", evidently to avoid conflict with the soft drink manufacturer, Cadbury Schweppes.) Although I've given up interest in sports, I still have a sentimental attachment to the U of I and still follow Illinois basketball and football, though not with the intensity of my wife and our down-the-block son.
Hmm, now if we could get the Orange Krush to take up the issue of human rights in China. But I just googled it and found that no mentions of Chinese or Tibetan advocacy at the U. of I.
I did see that Obama sent a letter to President Bush, "calling on him to employ every diplomatic tool to persuade Chinese President Hu Jintao to make significant progress in resolving the Tibet issue. Given the recent events in Tibet and the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Obama asks President Bush to encourage the Chinese government to negotiate with the Dalai Lama, guarantee religious freedoms for the Tibetan people, protect Tibetan culture and language, and support the exercise of genuine autonomy for Tibet. Obama also supports Bush's insistence that foreign press and diplomatic personnel have free access to Lhasa and other Tibetan cities and villages to ensure that repression and human rights violations cannot escape the world's notice." And both Clinton and Obama are calling for Bush to boycott the opening of the Olympic Games. McCain, naturally, wants him to "keep his options open".
Bill
Go Syracuse!
Bill, We have something in common, the color orange. I was born in Syracuse, raised nearby. Syracuse University was founded by Methodists, and adopted the color orange in honor of William of Orange, a protestant King of England. We are widely known at The Orangemen of Syracuse. That's what gives the Syracuse-Notre Dame rivalry special meaning.
Syracuse long ago adopted the Orange Crush theme for their football defensive team. Unfortunately, all too often, it cut both ways. One of the great NFL football players, some say the best, was Jim Brown, of the Cleveland Browns. He was an NCAA record setting Orangeman from Syracuse U. Later Ernie Davis broke many of Jim's records, but tragically died at age 22 of a rare blood cancer disease. We'll never know how he might have torn up the NFL.
BTW the color orange has a storied local Syracuse history. In 1913 when they installed the first electric traffic control lights near Tipperary Hill, the Irish section of town, the Irish would stone out the lights 'cuz the red was the top. The city finally relented and even today you will see 2 traffic lights on Salina Street with the green on the top and the red on the bottom!
Rich