Erected on Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza, "Al Qalam" by Sara Ouhaddou celebrates the legacy of Mahjar writers in the former Little Syria neighborhood. (Credit: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation)
In the beginning, there was Little Syria — a Manhattan neighborhood that once stretched across the southern edge of what is now the 9/11 Memorial. It is on Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza, between Trinity Place and Edgar Street, that a big bright yellow sculpture was unveiled this year, representing the Arabic word al-Qalam ("The Pen"), with mosaic benches bearing the names of nine major figures in Arab-American literature. Valued at $1.6 million, the work by French-Moroccan artist Sara Ouhaddou is meant to celebrate the history of this historic Levantine immigrant enclave in New York through the writers who shaped Mahjar literature.A few days after its inauguration, however, the monument became the center of an identity controversy that went beyond U.S. borders. At the heart of the debate was a plaque describing several of these...
In the beginning, there was Little Syria — a Manhattan neighborhood that once stretched across the southern edge of what is now the 9/11 Memorial. It is on Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza, between Trinity Place and Edgar Street, that a big bright yellow sculpture was unveiled this year, representing the Arabic word al-Qalam ("The Pen"), with mosaic benches bearing the names of nine major figures in Arab-American literature. Valued at $1.6 million, the work by French-Moroccan artist Sara Ouhaddou is meant to celebrate the history of this historic Levantine immigrant enclave in New York through the writers who shaped Mahjar literature.A few days after its inauguration, however, the monument became the center of an identity controversy that went beyond U.S. borders. At the heart of the debate was a plaque describing several of these...