“Havah…to breathe, air, life” by Shahzia Sikander

As we kick off Women’s History Month, we could not be more excited about Shahzia Sikander’s outdoor multimedia installation “Havah...to breathe, air, life,” whose sculptures centered around themes of women and justice, a theme akin to our own ethos, are currently gracing Madison Square Park and atop the Courthouse of the First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. A “citizen of the world”, Ms. Sikander who hails from Pakistan and lives in New York City received the prestigious United States Medal of Arts in 2012 and has been acknowledged for renewing interest in the Indo-Persian miniature form and revolutionizing the  feminist neo-miniature movement worldwide.

“Havah…to breathe, air, life” consists of two sculptures of women; Witness, which sits at the entrance of Madison Square Park and 25th Street, and NOW, which is perched atop the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court and is the first female figure to be installed there. With her limbs as tree roots, her hair braided and coiled like a ram’s horn, her head held high and eyes wide open, Sikander’s golden women sculptures encompass symbols of power, strength, durability, and femininity. Whereas “Justice” throughout history has been symbolized as a woman, blindfolded, and holding scales, Sikander’s allegorical women suggest a new vision of woman and power in the justice system. Complete with a decorative jabot at the neckline, a nod to the lace collar worn by the late, trailblazing United States Supreme Court associate justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Witness and NOW remind us to “reverse stereotypes about gender, race, immigrants, and the unfamiliar” as noted by the artist.

“Freedom’s Stand” by Faheem Majeed

As we celebrate Black History Month, we look upon the work of artist, curator, community facilitator, and educator Faheem Majeed,  a modern-day Renaissance Man who creates works of art focused on institutional critique and cultural experiences. Mr. Majeed’s current installation on display at The High Line “Freedom’s Stand” pays homage to Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned-and operated newspaper in New York City that was launched in 1827 to counter act existing newspapers at the time that encouraged slavery and attacked African Americans. Drawing inspiration from a range of renowned, community driven work including Chicago’s Wall of Respect and the Community Mural Movement, the artist’s sculpture, modeled after West Mali’s Dogon Tribe granaries, exhibits  a sampling of headlines, photographs, ads, and articles from historical and present day Black newspapers. The monthly changing content educates spectators on vital issues, as Freedom’s Journal educated the Black community hundreds of years ago.

“Signs of Life” by Chiharu Shiota

At Galerie Templon in NYC, we stepped into Berlin-based, Japanese artist, Chiharu Shiota’s ethereal  installation “Signs of Life”. Creating the large-scale installation on site over two weeks by weaving knotted threads, Ms. Shiota transports us into a web where the  woven threads create dreamlike scenes that explore and question the idea of  the “web” as a living organism akin to the neurons in our brains.   As if stepping into another dimension, we are faced with pages torn out of books and the artist’s own bronzed arms entwined within the webs which “represent the treasures offered up by memory, to be seen but not touched.” As we wonder amidst the spectacular installations and sculptures,  we are prompted into our own recollections, the pages torn out of our own life stories. 

Pilot Program for H and L Visa Renewal in the US Announced

Keeping in line with its efforts to improve visa processing backlogs at the consulates and embassies around the world, the Department of State (“DOS”) announced a plan to launch a pilot program for H and L visa holders to renew their visas in the US, instead of having to travel abroad. In an interview with Bloomberg Law, Julie Stufft, deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, shared the news of the program that should be initiated later this year.

In 2004, the DOS discontinued domestic visa reissuance service for certain nonimmigrant visas in the United States. Restarting the program by permitting certain H and L visa holders to revalidate their visas domestically, rather than having to travel internationally to renew their visas, is the latest means DOS is planning to take to alleviate the visa application backlogs that developed at consulates as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will keep you updated as more details surrounding the launch of the pilot program become available. 

“La Gran Manzana” by Enrique Cabrera

John J. Fitz Gerald, a reporter for the New York Morning Telegraph,  proclaimed in 1924 “there’s only one Big Apple. That’s New York.” In celebration of its internationally known moniker, almost a century later, the city has welcomed the first and largest apple sculpture, “La Gran Manzana” by Mexican artist Enrique Cabrera.

With the Avenues of the America’s as its urban orchard “La Gran Manzana” radiates brightly amongst some of NYC’s most iconic landmarks including the fountain at 1251 Sixth Ave, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, NBC Studios, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and Christie’s auction house. Mr. Cabrera’s limited-edition series of apples, approximately 7777 sculptures of “La Gran Manzana”, will be harvested throughout the city.