Thirty years after it was toppled in Tiananmen Square by China's military, the 'Goddess of Democracy' sculpture continues to represent resistance to autocracy
It was the nature of the artwork's destruction, not its creation, that secured the Goddess' place in history, said Perry Link, emeritus professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University and co-editor of"The Tiananmen Papers."
Basing themselves at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts , the students were given 8,000 yuan for materials and expenses -- and just three days to complete the 33-foot-tall sculpture, which was created off-site before being transported to the square for assembly.Credit:"I think everybody knew that the statue would be famous," Tsao told CNN in an email interview.
Tens of thousands of protesters awaited them. So too did a scaffold structure, set around a vertical metal pole upon which the pieces would be assembled, according to Tsao's account. With the help of yet more plaster, the statue was erected that night.Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images The "Goddess of Democracy" faces off with a portrait of Mao Zedong hanging at the entrance to the Forbidden City.Later that day, the statue was formally unveiled to onlookers and foreign journalists. An improvised inauguration ceremony was accompanied by musical performances and, according to Fang, great jubilation.A 'martyr' for democracyTwo days later, the statue was condemned by state media.
A replica of the "Goddess of Democracy" on display at Hong Kong's Victoria Park in 2016, ahead of the city's annual candlelight vigil commemorating the incident.Former protester Fang agreed with this description, saying:"It fell at the center of China's autocracy, loudly collapsing in the center of Tiananmen Square. The statue died for China's democracy underneath the tanks of the Chinese military.
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