The preservation of cultural memory has long-standing been a product of nationalism and integral to demonstrating the artistic and socio-political legacies of peoples of the world. So what happens when institutions that facilitate the preservation of such objects are completely ransacked and obliterated? You get what's left of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.
In 2003, as a consequence of the U.S. invasion into Iraq and the War on Terror, the Iraq Museum was looted, and thousands of ancient artifacts were stolen, many of which are currently circulating on the black market. This devastating occurrence has garnered international attention from the museum world, as well as key figures in international law. It has also captured the attention of artist Michael Rakowitz, who recreates art objects and artifacts lost upon the looting of the museum with sculptures made of found pieces of paper and trash from Iraq, which function as replicas/place holders until the items are recovered.
One of Rakowitz's artistic signatures are a confluence between seemingly simple solutions to real and extremely complicated problems and recreating a sense of urgency in addressing them. (He is well-known for providing inflatable and heated shelters for the homeless in New York)
You can find out more about the lost objects from the Iraq Museum at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, and you can check out more of Michael Rakowitz's work here.
Image: Michael Rakowitz, Male with short coat and kilted skirt, middle eastern packaging paper and glue, 2007.
