NEW YORK: A conceptual art installation that surrounds a 13-foot (4-meter) Central Park statue of Christopher Columbus with a well-appointed living room has become a must-see New York City cultural attraction.
Since Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi’s “Discovering Columbus” opened Sept. 20 some 20,000 people have made the walk up six flights of stairs for the up-close view of the explorer who discovered America — as well as the unique views of Midtown Manhattan and the park.
“Living room in the sky? I thought ‘Cool. Check it out,’” said business analyst Brianna Goodman, who visited this past week. “I would never have thought to build a living room around a statue, but it made it like an intimate setting. And then the view from up there!“
The statue rests on a 60-foot (18-meter) granite column at the southwest corner of Central Park. Columbus’ marble features usually are visible only from afar. For his first installation in the United States, Nishi has perched Columbus’ “home” atop scaffolding that encases the column.
The statue rises out of a large coffee table so that it seems to preside over a highbrow salon. Pink wallpaper, designed by the artist, depicts American icons Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luther King Jr.
Visitors can plop themselves on a sofa, admire the views and scan the titles on Columbus’ bookshelves, which include Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope” and books about baseball and American history.
“I was really enjoying trying to figure out who are these people who live in this apartment,” said art therapist Bonnie Hirschhorn. “I was picturing some New York City intellectual.”
Artist Martha Bone said the walk up and down the stairs was well worth it. “It was one of the best installations I’ve ever seen ... It’s my city.”
But, not everyone is a fan. John Mancini, executive director of the Italic Institute of America, said the artwork turns the 1892 statue by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo into “a stage prop.”
“How can one artist hijack the work of another artist?” he complained.
The exhibit is being presented by the city’s Public Art Fund, and free timed tickets can be reserved at www.publicartfund.org. Another 80,000 are slated to see the exhibit before it ends Nov. 18.
NYC’s ‘living room in the sky’ around Columbus statue a hit
NYC’s ‘living room in the sky’ around Columbus statue a hit
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
