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Paola Pivi
You know who I am
On the High Line at 16th Street
Paola Pivi’s You know who I am is a large-scale cast bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty wearing various cartoonish masks. The masks, which will be changed over the course of the installation, are stylized portraits of individuals whose personal experiences of freedom are directly connected to the United States.
Learn more about Mahnaz Akbari, whose mask was featured on the sculpture October to December 2022:
Mahnaz Akbari was born in Mashhad, Iran in 1985, to an Afghan refugee family, and lived in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011 to 2021. Mahnaz was among the limited number of Afghan women who were evacuated in August 2021 after the withdrawal of the United States military from Afghanistan. Mahnaz, along with her two nieces she managed to evacuate with, are currently in the process of applying for asylum in the United States.
Mahnaz is the second youngest of five children. When Mahnaz grew up in Mashhad, her father had a grocery store and her mother took care of the house and raised her and her brothers. At age 16, Mahnaz wanted to be a surgeon and later wanted to be in the army. She worked as a calligraphy instructor and a supply chain manager at her friend’s clothing store.
Mahnaz and her family returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, after the Soviet-Afghan war had long ended, when she was 25 years old. Mahnaz attained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Kabul’s Gawharshad University. She joined the Afghan National Army in 2011. She quickly excelled as a soldier and was selected to serve and command the first Female Tactical Platoon (FTP) of the Afghan Special Operations in the Afghan National Army. She worked on missions alongside US soldiers across Afghanistan from 2011 to 2021. Recently, just before fleeing Afghanistan, Mahnaz had accepted a higher ranking position as a Coordinator Officer and had started her Masters degree in Sociology at Kabul’s Kateb University.
Following the military withdrawal of the United States and other nations from Afghanistan, the subsequent fall of the Afghan government and the Taliban occupation of Kabul in 2021, Mahnaz suddenly found herself in life-threatening danger. She and her two nieces spent three days at the Kabul airport before being evacuated with other FTP members and some of their families on one of the cargo flights that were visible in the media. They arrived at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, where they spent the next two months living in a military barracks, before finally settling in Riverdale, Maryland.
Despite working with the US army in Afghanistan for over ten years, Mahnaz is not eligible for the protection of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program that the US has provided since 2009 to Afghan nationals who assisted the US government. The program offers admission to the US, resettlement services, and legal permanent residence for approved applicants and their family members. Since Mahnaz was not contracted by the US government she does not qualify for the SIV program and therefore is caught in a precarious position. Mahnaz was granted humanitarian parole upon her arrival in the US, which allows her to stay in the US for 2 years. During this limited time, she and her nieces must go through the difficult process of applying for asylum in the US, a complex procedure that requires legal support. Finding a lawyer and organizing the asylum application is especially difficult for those who have had to suddenly flee and leave behind all possessions and funds, and cannot readily access records which may be needed as evidence for their asylum cases.
Mahnaz has also received a temporary employment authorization and is currently working for a non-profit organization, Immigrant ARC, as an Afghan Reassessment Project Manager to help other Afghan refugees resettle in the US. Her goal is to one day create an orphanage or a non-profit organization back in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that Mahnaz is grateful to have been able to flee the current situation in Afghanistan, she experiences daily anguish and distress for her family and community who were not able to leave Afghanistan.
Artist bio
Paola Pivi (b. 1971, Milan, Italy) lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska. Recent solo exhibitions have been featured at institutions including Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark (2020); The Bass Museum, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida (2018); Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia (2018); La Rinascente, Milan, Italy (2017); Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, Texas (2016); FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, France (2014); National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2014); Witte de With, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2013); and Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2012). Public solo commissions include High Line Art, New York, New York (2012) and Public Art Fund, New York, New York (2012). Notable group exhibitions include Io dico Io – I say I, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy (2021); Trittico, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2016); and Senso Unico, MOMA PS1, New York, New York (2007). Major international exhibitions include the Yokohama Triennial, Japan (2018) and the 48th Venice Biennale, Italy (1999).
Support
Fonderia Artistica Battaglia aims to share their historical expertise in artistic bronze, initiating contemporary artists into the practice. You know who I am was Pivi’s first artwork cast in bronze; the team at Battaglia guided her throughout the fabrication process.
Paola Pivi, You know who I am, is made possible, in part, by an in-kind donation from Matteo Visconti, Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milan, and support from Perrotin and Massimo De Carlo; with thanks to the engineering firm Pro Iter, Milan.
The title You know who I am was conceived by Karma Culture Brothers.