It’s probably already tomorrow in China, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you about the June 4th Museum. It is the world’s first permanent memorial museum for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which occurred exactly 25 years ago. The exhibit is just 800 square feet and hidden away on the 5th floor of the Foo Hoo Centre (which means you really have to find it as there is no indication the museum even exists, apart from a listing in the lobby directory). The protests remain a taboo topic in mainland China, but nearly 7,000 people have visited the museum since it opened a few months ago.
At the entrance is a six-foot tall replica of the “Goddess of Democracy” statue that was famously erected by the protesters. While walking through a labyrinthine layout that reflects “the maze which is the China of today” visitors learn about the protests through photographs, artifacts, videos and written histories of the events. There is a grass-covered central area, modeled on Tiananmen as it looked back then. The area is surrounded by twisted maps of Beijing’s roads showing the 200 locations where students were killed. Visitors can also write messages of support on a narrow chalkboard running the length of a wall. Despite legal objections to the exhibit, curator Andrew Lam Hon-kin (shown in the photograph above) says it is a “civic space” open for debate. “We would like to extend the discussion about the country’s development from 1989 to today…Its goal is to change society…It is a museum of activism…and our ultimate goal is to rectify the verdict on June 4.”
