In a New York court, an artist from Pakistan “makes history.”

NEW YORK: For more than a hundred years, all of the statues on the plinths on top of a New York courthouse were of men. Thanks to the work of a Pakistani-American artist, that is no longer the case.

On the roof of the neoclassical building in Manhattan, next to Zoroaster, Confucius, Moses, and six other male ancient jurists, is a golden eight-foot-tall sculpture of a woman.

Shahzia Sikander, who is 53 years old, made the piece to bring attention to the fact that public statues in the United States tend to honour white men and show few women.

As part of her multimedia show Havah…to breathe, air, life, which opens on February 7, 2023, in New York City’s Madison Square Park, the sculpture Witness by Shahzia Sikander is on view. — AFP
The sculpture “Witness” by Shahzia Sikander is on display in Madison Square Park in New York City on February 7, 2023, as part of her multimedia show “Havah…to breathe, air, life.” — AFP
“Representation matters, and it matters that women are represented in places like law and art that have been very patriarchal in the past,” the artist told AFP.

“So, of course, putting the character on the roof of the courthouse makes it possible to have a very different conversation,” the 53-year-old said.

Since it opened in the late 1800s in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, the building has had ten plinths. In 1955, a statue of the Prophet Mohammed was taken down after Pakistan, Indonesia, and Egypt said they didn’t like it.

Then, several statues were moved over to one spot, but the plinth was still empty.

The Byzantine emperor Justinian used to stand where Sikander’s sculpture is now.

Her statue shows a woman coming out of a pink lotus flower with braided hair that looks like horns.

Shahzia Sikander’s sculpture (on the right) is on top of the courthouse of the Appellate Division First Department of the Supreme Court near Madison Square Park on February 7, 2023, as part of her multi-media show called breathe, air, life. — AFP
Shahzia Sikander’s sculpture (on the right) is on top of the courthouse of the Appellate Division First Department of the Supreme Court near Madison Square Park on February 7, 2023, as part of her multi-media show called breathe, air, life. — AFP
It brings attention to the fact that women still face discrimination, “whether it’s about health and education rights, equal economic opportunities, violence based on gender, race, or social class,” says Sikander.

“Despite the fact that women have been fighting for years for legal, social, economic, and political equality, gender bias is still a problem for many women,” she wrote in an artist’s note about the piece.

Sikander was born in Lahore and moved to the U.S. 30 years ago. The title “NOW” refers to recent events that critics say have taken away women’s rights.

When it overturned Roe v. Wade last June, the Supreme Court, which has moved to the right a lot since Donald Trump took office, took away the federal right to abortion.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a liberal icon and a progressive Supreme Court justice. She died in September 2020 at the age of 87. The statue has the lace collar that was her trademark.

“With Ginsburg’s death and the overturning of Roe, constitutional progress for women took a step back,” said Sikander.

The temporary work is part of her show “Havah… to breathe, air, life,” which also includes an 18-foot sculpture called “Witness” in nearby Madison Square Park.

The two pieces of art will be shown until June.