“Witness” by Pakistani-American visual artist Shahzia Sikander

On July 8 (2024), a man with a hammer decapitated an 18-foot sculpture of a woman at the University of Houston.

I made this sculpture, and I called it "Witness" as an allegory of the power - or rather the lack of power - that women are accorded.

Before the attack took place, the sculpture was criticized by one of the state's largest antiabortion groups, Texas Right to Life.

The main charge was that the work honored abortion and had "satanic" features.

It is my prerogative as an artist to ask how art can reimagine society. When we are witnessing a regression of women's rights around the world, art can function as a vehicle of defiance. It can also be a path toward rectification.

It's clear to me that the people opposed to the statue object to its message of women's power.

So what should happen now?

The University of Houston should take this opportunity to educate the public about the art that was savaged and address the ignorance and rage underlying the attack. The First Amendment protects my art.

And we should leave the statue the way it is: a testament to the hatred and division that permeate our society.

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Read this article by Amal Zaman for the Massachusetts Review: https://www.massreview.org/node/12099

It goes in depth about not just the desecration of this statue but also the inspiration for it.