The Public Art University of Houston System canceled an event showcasing a newly made sculpture built on campus grounds after being bombarded by contentious objections from local antiabortion groups, describing the piece's imagery and the artist's view on abortion rights as "satanic."
The sculpture, dubbed "Witness," was created by the Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander and was set to be displayed for an 8-month-long period as part of the Public Art of the University of Houston System's collection.
Officials from the institution did not formally announce the cancellation of the event, instead, they cited the artist's unavailability as the reason the slated showcase and talk did not push through.
This has since been refuted by Sikander in a social media post, saying that it was not her who canceled the event.
(Photo : Shahzia Sikander/Public Art UHS)
The Meaning Behind the 'Witness' Sculpture
Standing 18-foot-tall, the statue depicts a golden woman with braids fashioned to look like a ram's circular horn, alongside arms and feet that are partially transformed into intertwining roots.
The piece's lower half is fully encapsulated by a hoop skirt frame with mosaic details, whose overall shape is akin to that of a voluminous ball gown.
The sculpture is also shown wearing the easily recognizable judicial collar designs worn by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Of the piece's symbolism, Sikander wrote in an artist statement: "The recent focus on reproductive rights in the United States after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion, comes to the forefront."
"The enduring power lies with the people who step into and remain in the fight for equality. That spirit and grit is what I want to capture in both the sculptures," she continued.
"Witness" is only one among a multi-disciplinary collection that is co-commissioned by New York's Madison Square Park Conservancy, with another sculpture standing in the city named "NOW."
The 2023 collection, in particular, is named "Havah... to breath air, life" after the Urdu word with a direct translation of "air" and "atmosphere," as well as being the Hebrew/Arabic name for Eve, the biblical figure.
Contentions Behind Shahzia Sikander's Sculpture, 'Witness'
According to The Texan, the sculpture showcase and the accompanying talk were scheduled for last Feb. 28, however, after immediately drawing denunciation from several antiabortion collectives, both in and out of the university, the event was called off without clarity.
One such organization was the Texas Right to Life, which publicized a scathing statement that called Sikander's piece "satanic imagery [honoring] abortion" and an act of idolatry towards Ginsburg.
The collective even explicitly described the sculpture as a "satanic abortion idol" of a "naked female figure with braids shaped like goat horns and arms like tentacles," and called for its removal away from Texas.
The organization also renounced the sculpture's promotional video that Sikander appeared in, where she referred to Eve as the "first lawbreaker."
"Disobedience to God certainly should not be esteemed by society, much less lauded with a statue," wrote Texas Right to Life in its statement. "On the contrary, art should reflect truth, goodness, and beauty: three timeless values that reveal the nature of God."
"Art cannot have beauty without truth. Art cannot have truth without goodness," it continued.
A student collective advocating for antiabortion based on campus, Coogs for Life, also denounced the sculpture's placement on university grounds, calling the piece an "infamous golden statue that idolizes abortion" on an Instagram post.
"The news of this development has shocked all of us, and brings great sorrow as well as disappointment," the post read.
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