In front of the courthouse in southern Manhattan, where the former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sex crimes, a statue of Medusa has recently stood – naked, with a sword in one hand and a cut off head in the other. The sculpture was chosen as a symbol of the #MeToo movement against sexual violence, said its creator, the Argentine artist Luciano Garbati.
The criticism of the work of art on the Internet was not long in coming: numerous people asked why a sculpture created by a man, which was also created in 2008 long before the start of the #MeToo movement, was chosen. Others wondered why the figure from Greek mythology was holding the severed head of Perseus and not that of Poseidon – according to the legend, her rapist.
A few blocks further south, a completely different new sculpture caused a stir for completely different reasons: the statue of the nun Franziska Xaviera Cabrini, who emigrated from Italy to the USA in the 19th century, who was primarily a supporter of immigrants throughout her life, and in 1946 as The first American woman to be canonized was presented to the public by Governor Andrew Cuomo. In doing so, Cuomo opposed an initiative by Mayor Bill de Blasio, with whom he has been in dispute for years. Although this is committed to more statues of women in the metropolis, Cabrini was not on the list.
(SDA)
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