On Monday, July 8, a large sculpture of a woman by Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander was decapitated at the University of Houston.
The 18-foot-tall bronze statue of a tentacled lady with her hair braided in a way reminiscent of a ram's horns, intended to commemorate women and justice, had earlier incited the rage of Texas Right to Life, a Christian anti-abortion group, which called the statue "celebrat[ing] Satan's deceit."
The art exhibit was vandalized a few months after anti-abortion protesters opposed it when it first appeared on campus in February.
Kevin Quinn, the university's executive director of media relations, said on Wednesday, "We were disappointed to learn the statue was damaged early Monday morning as Hurricane Beryl was hitting Houston." He claimed that the damage is believed to be intentional.
Quinn added that UH administrators had spoken with "conservators" who could offer advice on repairs with the Pakistani-American visual artist over the damage to her sculpture. He also assured that campus police are currently looking into the incident.
The sculpture 'Witness' is one of three works created by Sikander for her 2023 project, which addresses the state of women's freedom in the United States and was commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and Public Art of the University of Houston System. It was initially set up last year on the rooftop of the Manhattan Appellate Courthouse and Madison Square Park in New York. The accompanying sculpture 'Now' (2023) is still in New York.
The artist responded to the recent vandalism in the public by saying to the New York Times, "I don't want to 'repair' or conceal." She added, "I want to 'expose,' leave it damaged. Make a new piece, and many more."
