Statue honoring women and justice vandalized at University of Houston

University of Houston officials said Tuesday that a vandal attacked Shahzia Sikander’s sculpture “Witness,” decapitating the work, which is a monument to women and justice on campus. Footage of the destruction, which occurred early Monday morning due to severe weather from Hurricane Beryl and power outages, was obtained by campus police, officials told the artist.

Sikander, a Pakistani-American artist, often creates works that examine questions of politics, language and empire. The damaged statue was one of the artist’s first major public sculptures in his nearly 30-year career.

“We were disappointed to learn that the statue was damaged early Monday morning as Hurricane Beryl hit Houston. The damage is believed to be intentional,” Kevin Quinn, the university’s executive director of media relations, said in a statement to The New York Times. “The University of Houston Police Department is currently investigating the matter.”

On Monday, Rachel G. Mohl, the university’s director of public art programs, wrote to Sikander to alert him of the destruction, saying she was “completely shocked and deeply saddened by what has happened.” In the email, seen by The New York Times, Mohl wrote, “This has been disturbing to all of us and we are working to repair this incredible and regrettable act as quickly as possible amid the immense damage caused by the hurricane.”

The 18-foot-tall statue of a female figure has been under increased scrutiny for months since an anti-abortion group called attention to the sculpture after it was installed in February, calling it a “satanic” memorial to abortion and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The university subsequently canceled a lecture by Sikander and a commencement ceremony. Anti-abortion protesters then held a small demonstration near the sculpture. University officials have not said whether the defacement of the sculpture was linked to the activists.

“It was a very violent act of hate, and it should be investigated as a crime,” Sikander said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

The artist said viewers may have misinterpreted the symbolism of her work, which includes horn-like braids, tentacled arms and a lace collar. Her intention was not specifically to comment on abortion or Supreme Court justices, she said, but rather to create a broader message about a woman’s power in the justice system.

The statue was originally commissioned by Manhattan’s Madison Square Park Conservancy, which installed it in the park in January 2023. It was part of a broader response to statues on the roof of a nearby courthouse, which featured male lawmakers like Confucius and Moses. Sikander said at the time that the sculpture wore a hoop skirt inspired by the courthouse’s stained-glass dome, symbolizing the need to “break the legal glass ceiling.”

“It was an optimistic, forward-looking vision of justice,” said Brooke Kamin Rapaport, the preserve’s artistic director and chief curator. “And now that vision is gone.”

“We hope that a thorough investigation will be carried out to determine those responsible for this violent act,” she added, explaining that the decapitated statue remained under a tarpaulin while conservators examined the damage and considered possible repairs.

University officials said they were dealing with the destruction caused by the hurricane while investigating who attacked the Sikander sculpture.

Sikander, who has exhibited in museums around the world and recently held a major exhibition on the sidelines of the Venice Biennale, said she has yet to understand what happened to a sculpture that is arguably her most recognizable work to date. But the artist has decided to leave the damage visible for viewers to see.

“I don’t want to ‘fix’ or cover up,” Sikander said. “I want to ‘expose,’ to leave something damaged. To create a new piece, and so on.”