Exhibition on 1989 Democracy Movement Opens in Lübeck, Germany
On August 18, the exhibition “China is not far away!” opened to the public in Lübeck, Germany. The exhibit, originally conceived by the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation in cooperation with Human Rights in China and other partner organizations, was installed as part of the city’s Museum Night, under the motto “Where freedom begins…”.
Presented in three shipping containers, “China is not far away!” explores the democracy movements of 1989 in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and East Germany (GDR), and the ongoing struggles of democratic dissidents in the PRC today. On display are original objects from the June 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, video interviews with witnesses, and a five-metre-high replica of the “Goddess of Democracy.” The exhibition also highlights the regime’s ongoing attempts to erase the memory of the Tiananmen Massacre. At the initial opening in Berlin last November, marking the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, HRIC’s Executive Director Fengsuo Zhou underscored the shared democratic struggles of 1989 and warned that the Chinese Communist Party is now extending authoritarian control far beyond China’s borders. As the exhibition now moves to Lübeck, it reminds us that no wall, physical or digital, can silence the universal human demand for freedom.
Location: Obertrave / corner of Große Petersgrube
Dates: 18 – 31 August | Daily 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. | Free entrance
Special hours for Museum Night on 30 August: 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
On Lübeck Museum Night (30 August), two contemporary witnesses portrayed in the exhibition will join in person: Stefan Müller, GDR oppositionist, and Yicheng Huang, a Chinese dissident who participated in the White Paper Protests.
HRIC is proud to have contributed to the development of this important project. The Lübeck installation is made possible by the Berlin Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.
The exhibition is presented in German, English, and Chinese.
