May 30, 1989: As a symbol of their call for democratic reforms in China, the original Goddess of Democracy was built by art students who erected it in Tiananmen Square. The gathering protest on that site had begun in mid-April; tension was mounting.
Subsequently, on June 4, following orders, elements of the People’s Liberation Army put an end to the demonstration. Mayhem ensued. Although reports varied widely, hundreds, if not thousands, were killed.
Made of
chicken wire and plaster the Goddess was destroyed during the brutal
routing of the determined protesters who had remained to the end, in defiance. As
the drama played out on television, via satellite, those events shocked
the world.
In Richmond, as their art student counterparts in China
were being murdered in the shadow of their 33-foot-tall sculpture, a group of local artists heard the call of inspiration
to stand in support of those who had fallen. The impromptu team of the
willing and able -- VCU-affiliated artists -- worked for the next couple of days to
give form to their tribute to courage. The courage of those who had risked it all for
the sake of freedom of expression.
While the ad hoc undertaking was not sponsored by the
university, wisely, VCU didn't play it safe and discourage the gesture. Maybe the university's top dogs decided that it was a natural outgrowth from having a world class art school. Richmond’s
Goddess of Democracy (pictured above and below) stood the same height
and was made of the same basic materials as the one in China had been.
Thirty-two years ago, facing the 900 block of West Main Street, it stood as a memorial for about a
month
in front of the student center. Eventually, weather was its undoing.
While it stood CNN had a report on it, as did many
other news agencies. Its image was on front pages of newspapers all over
the world.
On May 13, 1989, Beijing University students began an occupation of Tiananmen Square to call for democratic reforms and an end to official corruption. The ensuing peaceful and often festive protest drew world attention and gained support from the citizens and workers of Beijing. On Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 [a.m.] Chinese time, troops of the 27th Division of the People’s Liberation Army entered the square with orders to disperse the students. At approximately 6 a.m. these same troops attacked the protestors with automatic weapons, tanks, and bayonets. According to government estimates only 300 students were killed, but local medical estimates put the death toll between 500 and 1,000.
The brutal suppression of unarmed students by a powerful totalitarian government has moved the world’s conscience. Many of the Tiananmen victims were art students who aspired to same basic freedoms which we enjoy daily. As American artists we cannot overlook, and we must never forget, the suffering and sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in Beijing. Their peaceful struggle was a cry for human rights everywhere, and their symbol, the Goddess of Democracy, was the highest artistic tribute they could pay to humanity’s noblest ideal -- freedom.
When communists are the conservatives clinging to the old way, how does that play out on a straight line spectrum of left-to-right thinking? It seems to me authoritarian regimes are what they are, regardless of how else they wish to be viewed from the outside.
-- Photos by F.T. Rea
