Tuan Andrew Nguyen's Sculpture to Echo Destroyed Bamiyan Buddha on New York's High Line

Tuan Andrew Nguyen has been selected for the High Line Plinth commission, with his sculpture The Light That Shines Through the Universe set to debut in April 2026. The over-eight-meter-tall work reimagines Salsal, the larger of two Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Carved into sandstone cliffs in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley around the 6th century CE, these ancient statues once overlooked a Silk Road nexus. Their hands were lost earlier to iconoclasm before the Taliban demolished the figures entirely. Nguyen's piece does not replicate the original but echoes its form, using melted brass artillery shells smuggled from Bamiyan to cast hands forming mudras for fearlessness and compassion. High Line Art director Cecilia Alemani called it a powerful counterpoint to global extremism. Located at 10th Avenue and 30th Street in Manhattan, the sculpture will be displayed for 18 months. The High Line is a 2.3-kilometer elevated park on a former freight rail line, with its Plinth program launched in 2019 to blend art into urban fabric. The Bamiyan site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with only empty niches remaining.