Exhibition: Shortlisted Proposals for the Fifth and Sixth Plinth Commissions

Tuan Andrew Nguyen's shortlisted proposal for the High Line's Fifth and Sixth Plinth Commissions is on view on the High Line Coach Passage at 30th Street, alongside sculptural maquettes by 11 other artists: Dana Awartani, Leilah Babirye, Natalie Ball, Sammy Baloji, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Rachel Feinstein, Camille Henrot, Mire Lee, Candice Lin, Emeka Ogboh, and Gala Porras-Kim.

For the Plinth, Nguyen has proposed The Light that Shines Through the Universe, a 30-foot-tall sandstone homage to the Bamiyan Buddhas, two 6th-century monumental statues in central Afghanistan that were destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban. Nguyen symbolically casts the Buddha’s hands, missing from the original monuments long before their final destruction, from brass artillery shells. They are arranged in mudras—or ritual gestures—that express fearlessness in compassion. The work’s title is a direct reference to the nickname used by local communities for the larger of the two Buddhas: “Salsal,” which means “the light shines through the universe.” This broken, rebuilt, resilient figure suggests the use of memory and the concept of reincarnation as a tool for renewal and healing

Two out of the 12 shortlisted proposals will be selected as the fifth and sixth High Line Plinth commissions, to be installed in 2026 and 2027 respectively. Each Plinth commission will be on view for 18 months.