Alternate Tiananmen memorial statue in the works

Hufsa Tahir
Contributor
The monument memorializing the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre may no longer be visible in the Student Centre, but plans to create a replica are in progress after concerns that the originally planned plaque would not do the statue justice.
Cheuk Kwan of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC) is currently in talks with the Student Centre’s executive director Scott Jarvis about the possibility of mounting a bronze structure at York to replace the Goddess of Democracy statue.
The original papier mâché statue, which was donated by the TADC and had been a Student Centre fixture since 1992, was taken down due to maltreatment and damage that led to the presence of fruit flies and mould, Jarvis said to Excalibur.
Fine arts professor Bruce Parsons, who oversaw the team of students and Chinese artists that constructed the original statue, explains that while a commemorative bronze plaque was mounted in the Student Centre, it was insignificant on its own.
Parsons expressed his desire to create a more impressive structure either within the Student Centre — to stand roughly eight feet tall and enclosed in a glass case for protection — or behind the Student Centre building near Central Square, which would allow “more room for creativity.”
Parsons met with Jarvis on August 26 to discuss his designs, saying Jarvis was very receptive to them.
Kwan is very pleased at how smoothly talks are proceeding.
“I’m quite happy with the process right now, and I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he says. “They’re open to the idea of a replacement […] Parsons and I are looking at a 3D model tonight.”
One of the goals is to display the monument in a location where students and community members will be able to see and learn of the significance of the commemorative piece.
“People don’t see the importance of the statue, and we want them to see it,” Kwan says.
Future meetings regarding the final decision are in place.