The High Line in New York has selected artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen to produce its next plinth commission, scheduled to open next spring.

Titled The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the commission will see Nguyen present a re-created version of one of the two Bamiyan Buddhas that once stood on a cliff in central Afghanistan. Dating to the 6th century CE, the Bamiyan Buddhas are typically seen as symbols of the syncretism of cultures along the Silk Road.  

The Buddha’s hands were lost centuries ago as part of waves of iconoclasm. They were fully destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, 25 years from when the work is to go on view. All that remains of the Buddhas is the niches were they once stood, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nguyen will not replicate the Buddha exactly, but present “an echo, intended to invoke the memory of these lost cultural treasures,” according to a release. He will also replace their lost hands with ones made from melted down brass artillery shells. Measuring 27 feet tall, the sandstone sculpture’s title takes its name from the local nickname for the Bamiyan Buddhas: Salsal, which translates to “the light shines through the universe.”