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Shazia Sikander Statue Called ‘Satanic’ By Anti-Abortion Groups

A celebrated Shazia Sikander sculpture in New York is targeted by an anti-abortion group for promoting ‘satanic imagery’.

Titled ‘Witness’, the work was installed in Madison Square Garden in New York last year. The golden sculpture features a woman levitating above the ground. Her arms and legs are dissolving in root-like strands, while her hair is tied in two spirals. She wears a hoop skirt and a lacy collar – inspired by the attire of former Supreme Court chief justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Shazia Sikander created the work in response to the renewed debate around abortion rights in the US, which many have claimed to have been erasing the strides made in the past few decades. In particular, she was responding to the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade judgment in 2022, which was a major blow to abortion rights in America. When the work was first unveiled, it drew critical acclaim from critics. It was scheduled to go on view at the University of Houston, Texas next week.

However, now a powerful anti-abortion group has called for the sculpture to not go on view. Texas Right To Life, a pro-life organization, accused the sculpture of using satanic imagery to promote abortion and memorialize the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The group wrote: “Disobedience to God certainly should not be esteemed by society, much less lauded with a statue. On the contrary, art should reflect truth, goodness, and beauty: three timeless values that reveal the nature of God. Art cannot have beauty without truth. Art cannot have truth without goodness. A statue honoring child sacrifice has no place in Texas.”

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It must be noted that conservatives on X (formerly Twitter) had previously accused the sculpture of being satanic when it was unveiled last year. Sikander has not responded to the allegations thus far.