June 4th Museum

June 4th Museum logo
Historical Gallery

The "June 4th Museum" (Chinese: 六四紀念館), organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, is a currently homeless memorial museum of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, that occurred in Beijing, China. The first attempt at a permanent home for the collection was in Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong, housed in a 1,375 sq ft. space, it opened on 26 April 2014, shortly before the 25th anniversary of the incident.

However, the museum received many complaints from the building owners, with regards to breaches of the mutual covenant of the building. The museum closed on 11 July 2016. Although the search for a new home are ongoing it is not evident when, if at all, it will open again.[1]

Purpose

The purpose of the museum is to give residents from mainland China an opportunity to learn more about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the history of which is censored in China outside Hong Kong. Local residents can also explore the history of democracy and freedom in China.[2]

Museum

Previous homes of the collection
First temporary museum
Second temporary museum
Tsim Sha Tsui museum

Temporary museums

Before the permanent museum opened in 2014, there were two temporary museums open for short periods—the first in 2012 and then in 2013. The temporary museums were named June 4 Memorial Museum (六四紀念館), hosted by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. The first temporary museum was located at 269 Yu Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, and was open between 29 April 2012 and 10 June 2012. The second was located at I-Café in the City University of Hong Kong from 12 April 2013 through 15 July 2013.[3]

Permanent museum

The permanent site was on the fifth floor of the Foo Hoo Centre at 3 Austin Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong. The owner of the site is the non-government organization Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. Costing 9.76 million Hong Kong dollars, the museum was named the June 4th Museum in English, the Chinese name (Chinese: 六四紀念館 being the same as that used for the temporary museums.[4][5] It opened to the public on 26 April 2014. The museum occupied 800 square feet, and its budget was approximately HK$800,000 per year.[6]

A complaint was filed against the museum shortly before it opened by the corporation that owns the building housing it, claiming that the museum violated the building covenants, as it was not using the space as an office and would bring in an excessive number of visitors.[7] A lawsuit over the matter was funded not by the owning corporation but "privately" by its chairman.[6] The museum closed on 11 July 2016, the search for a suitable new home is ongoing.

Temporary museum post 2016

While pending for the search of a permanent museum location, a temperate June 4th museum would be opened in the suburban neighborhood of Shek Kip Mei, in northern Kowloon. There would be a series of related events scheduled to June 4 2017 and the museum will close down again on June 15. [8]

Exhibits

The museum collection consists of artifacts, photographs and information related to the incident. These include the casings of rounds fired by the People's Liberation Army in Tiananmen Square and a raincoat which was worn by a resident of Hong Kong who went to Beijing to support the Democracy Movement. The museum also contains T-shirts signed by the student leaders including Wang Dan and Chai Ling. The museum provided a multi-media area, heritage area, history area and a library.[2] A Goddess of Democracy statue, which at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) in height symbolizes June 4, was to have been displayed in the permanent museum.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Hong Kong museum commemorating Tiananmen massacre to close". CNN. 11 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 年終回顧：香港六四紀念館 李旺陽死亡真相 (in Chinese). Voice of America. 11 December 2012.
  3. ↑ 六四紀念館城大重開 (in Chinese). Apple Daily. 12 April 2013.
  4. ↑ 支聯會斥976萬 購六四紀念館永久地址 (in Chinese). The House News. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014.
  5. ↑ 「六四紀念館」延至4月26日開幕 (in Chinese). Apple Daily. 15 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 Chong, Tanna (27 April 2014). "June 4 museum opens amid protests and threat of lawsuit". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Chan, Yanmic (11 April 2014). "June 4th Museum runs into Trouble". ISSUU HK Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Hong Kong's June Fourth museum makes temporary comeback amid political pressure. Nikkei Asian Review 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2018-06-05
  9. ↑ 藝術系生製民主女神像置紀念館 (in Chinese). now.com. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
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