A nearly 30-foot-tall Buddha statue will tower over the High Line in 2026

A towering, 27-foot-tall statue of Buddha will stand on Manhattan’s High Line next year as a new art installation in the elevated city park. 

Named “The Light That Shines Through the Universe,” the colossal figure will be positioned in the park over the intersection of 10th Avenue and 30th Street sometime in the spring of 2026.

Made of sandstone, the masterpiece is a tribute to the monumental Bamiyan Buddha sculptures made more than a millennium ago on a cliff in Afghanistan, but destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. 

Carved in Vietnam by artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen, the soon-to-come statue will remain on view at the High Line for 18 months.

Alan van Capelle, executive director of Friends of the High Line, described the statute as a “call to remembrance” that preserves culture. 

“What happened to the Buddhas of Bamiyan is not unique and is particularly resonant for many people across this country today who face a real fear of erasure and cultural persecution,” he said. “A work of this magnitude requires a platform of equal magnitude, and I hope its debut on the Plinth offers people a powerful place to connect and find strength in this moment.” 

Remembering the statues that were destroyed by the Taliban

The location in Afghanistan where the original statues were destroyed is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But all that remains are original empty niches carved out of the mountain where the statues once stood. Prior to their destruction, the Bamiyan Buddhas held deep significance across different cultures and religions, even as Afghanistan shifted to become a predominantly Islamic nation.

“Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s The Light That Shines Through the Universe is a timely monument for our public space,” said Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. director and chief curator of High Line Art. “It stands today as a powerful and poetic counterpoint to extremism and iconoclasm we continue to witness globally. By resurrecting the memory of the lost Bamiyan Buddhas, The Light That Shines Through the Universe reminds us that cultural treasures and shared history can transcend physical destruction.” 

The Buddha sculpture will replace the current installation on the High Line,  a 21-foot-tall pigeon artwork titled “Dinosaur.” The future relocation plans for “Dinosaur” were not immediately available.