Author: mara.ahmed

Thrilled to finally see Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Havah…to breathe, air, life’ in Madison Square Park. The genius and beauty of her work are always breathtaking.

‘In the park, Sikander places a monumental female figure that teems with symbolic imagery, titled Witness. Wearing a hoop skirt inspired by the courtroom’s stained-glass ceiling dome and detailed with mosaic, the figure’s arms and lower legs swirl into a decorative motif suggesting tree roots, a reference to what the artist has called the “self-rootedness of the female form; it can carry its roots wherever it goes.” The figure’s hair is braided to resemble a ram’s horns, identified in Eastern and Western traditions as a symbol of strength.’

‘Atop the historic Courthouse, NOW, another female figure—similar in form to the sculpture in the park, but without the embellished skirt—arises from a colorful lotus, a symbol of wisdom. The work’s connection with the Courthouse is imbued with meaning as the building’s rooftop is crowned by plinths inhabited by statues of nine historic and religious male legislators, including Confucius, Justinian, Lycurgus, Moses, and Zoroaster—but without a single woman represented atop a plinth until Sikander’s installation. Sikander’s work both physically and symbolically elevates the female figure, putting her on level plane with the traditionally patriarchal embodiments of justice and power.’