A giant sandstone Buddha is coming to the High Line

"It reimagines one of the Bamiyan Buddhas, colossal sixth-century statues that once stood in central Afghanistan before being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Today, those Buddhas exist only as empty niches carved into a cliff. Carved from sandstone, the High Line version isn't a replica. It's an homage-described as an "echo"-meant to summon memory rather than recreate history. The title references the nickname locals once gave the larger Bamiyan Buddha: "Salsal" which translates to "the light shines through the universe.""

"One of the sculpture's most striking features is its hands. The original Bamiyan Buddhas lost theirs long before their final destruction as victims of centuries of iconoclastic attacks. Nguyen has turned them into shiny prosthetics, cast from melted-down brass artillery shells and shaped into mudras symbolizing fearlessness and compassion. He's also positioned them with a visible gap between hand and body, serving as a reminder of the damage that can't be undone."

Tuan Andrew Nguyen created a 27-foot sandstone Buddha, carved in Vietnam, to occupy the High Line Plinth at 10th Avenue and 30th Street beginning spring 2026 for an 18-month display. The work, titled The Light That Shines Through the Universe, reimagines the sixth-century Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed in Afghanistan in 2001 as an homage or "echo" rather than a replica. The sculpture features shiny prosthetic hands cast from melted-down brass artillery shells and shaped into mudras symbolizing fearlessness and compassion, with a visible gap between hand and body to signify irreversible damage. The brass shells also reference Vietnam's wartime bombing and ongoing unexploded ordnance.

Read at Time Out New York