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In the Studio: Michael Rakowitz: Crafting ‘ghosts’ from Iraq’s lost culture

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07/04/2020 GMT

Michael Rakowitz: Crafting ‘ghosts’ from Iraq’s lost culture

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Michael Rakowitz: Crafting ‘ghosts’ from Iraq’s lost culture

Sculpting likenesses of destroyed Assyrian wall reliefs using Arabic food packaging

Sarah Geis follows artist Michael Rakowitz in Chicago, as he and his team create colourful likenesses of destroyed ancient Assyrian wall reliefs

US artist Michael Rakowitz has been creating thought-provoking work for the past two decades – from designing inflatable shelters for homeless people in New York, to a 14ft long statue of an Assyrian winged bull, made of over 10,000 date syrup cans, which stood over Trafalgar Square in London from 2018 to early 2020.

Michael’s Iraqi heritage is a cultural thread running through much of his art. We follow him at work on a new installment of a long-running project called The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist, which creates what he calls ‘ghosts’ of archaeological objects that have been destroyed or looted from Iraq in the 21st century.

Sarah Geis meets Michael at his Chicago studio and follows him throughout the process of recreating carved reliefs which adorned a room of the Northwest Palace of Nimrud, destroyed in 2015 by the Islamic State group. However, he’s not making them from stone but colourful Arabic food packaging and cardboard – for a fast-approaching exhibition.

We check back in with Michael in March 2020 to see how the project has progressed.

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