Press release, 12 November 2003

A demon passes through Europe

My Inner Beast has come to Paris to celebrate its 10th anniversary. In company with 15 other copper sculptures it has left native Denmark to join the European Social Forum 12-15 November.

Some cold November days in 1993, twenty European cities woke up to a surprise. In the centre of the most important square in town, a more than two metres high, black figure of a pig in a man's clothes had appeared. A brass sign announced; My Inner Beast - an animal of the lowest instincts. It attacks our ethical values and can completely seize power over man - and in the extreme over whole populations. Do not feed! 
There it was. Frightening, but also recognizable and apparently human. As if standing in front of a mirror, we were all of a sudden face to face with an unequivocal symbol of the most repulsive sides of the human race. An art happening was taking place. 

Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot had created the Beasts to stress that: It is not the foreigners, but our reaction to the foreigners, that threatens our civilisation.

Unfortunately, 10 years after the sculpture has not become less relevant. The question still is how far we are prepared to go to keep our wealth for ourselves. Do we need to build a new Berlin-wall to fortify wealthy Europe against the fugitives of war, the poor and the immigrants? If we do so, are we then still able to make a claim on our ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood?

We are now investigating the fate of the Beasts. Please help us to find the disappeared sculptures. They have vanished without any trace in Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, Geneva, Zurich, Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels. It is striking that all 3 sculptures set up in France have disappeared. Some rumours suggest that the Beasts have transformed themselves into MPs. However, we can hardly believe it. It seams too far-fetched.

Symbolism of Grotesqueness

Galschiot brings two Beasts, 14 Hunger Boys and the great Survival of the Fattest (3.5 metres high) to Paris. The sculptures express the grotesqueness of the world that is ours. The emaciated man is staggering under the weight of the enormous woman (Justitia). The sculpture expresses the double standard of the Western World. We brag about our sense of justice and human rights, and at the same time we refuse to venture into accords to better the conditions of the Third World. The 14 Hunger Boys represent the result: Famine. Every day 30,000 children die of hunger. The Beasts symbolise our reaction to the menace we perceive. 

The sculptures are through the streets of Paris throughout the Forum. 15.000 posters explaining the symbolism are distributed. The zenith of the Danish art event will be the participation in the big manifestation on Saturday 15th where hundreds of thousands people are expected. Until Tuesday 32.000 had already enrolled in the Forum.

Contact in Paris : Lene Junker, tel. (+45) 2323 0722.
Photos of the sculptures and the events are constantly actualised on www.aidoh.dk 
Info on the Forum: www.fse-esf.org/francais/rubrique1.html 

Jens Galschiot, born 1954, sculptor. He stakes his art to defend the ethical values of our society, regardless of political, religious or economic interests. His sculptures suddenly appear in public areas and start the performance. Politicians, the press and the public are drawn in as the actors.

Galschiot has often acted as a NGO on international conferences. His sculptural manifestations appear in the public scene. The Pillar of Shame (8 metres) was put up in Hong Kong, Mexico and Brazil as a remembrance of bloody massacres. The Messenger was part of the Jubilee 2000 campaign for debt release.

The happenings are prepared in the artist's several thousand square metres workshop and foundry. The projects are implemented in cooperation with many helpers from Denmark and abroad. They are financed through the sale of bronze sculptures to art collectors.

More about the Social Summit in Paris
More about My Inner Beast
A demon passes through Europe - an introduction to galschiøts activities in paris
To galschiots index page