In the ongoing art project The invisible enemy should not exist, Rakowitz reconstructs objects that were looted from the National Museum of Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003. Rakowitz calls these sculptures ‘reappearances’. He is not trying to recreate or replace what has been lost, but offers a placeholder, or blueprint. He sees them as ghosts, because like ghosts they can comfort those who miss them, as well as haunt those who have wronged them. 

Rakowitz uses contemporary Middle Eastern food packaging and Arabic and Assyrian newspapers found in the USA as material for his sculptures. They reference cooking as something that reminds many of home and joy but also survival and cultural resistance. They also visibilize the people who eat and read, who have left or fled, the longing and belonging of people and objects in movement. Through the material, the sculptures also function as reminders of the lost Iraqi lives that did not receive as much public uproar as the lost artifacts during the war. 

The vide work The Ballad of Special Ops Cody on the big screen is also part of the exhibition. By the sound shower, the voice of war veteran Gin McGill-Prather in The Ballad of Special Ops Cody echoes questions asked silently by the objects:  Who are you?  Where are you from?  Why are you here?  Don’t you want to go home?   

Find more info and full program of art talks in connection to the exhibition.

The exhibition is a collaboration between SSE Art Initiative and Medelhavsmuseet/Världskulturmuseerna curated by Ninhursag Tadaros. It can be found in the school´s atrium and is open for all Oct 30 to Jan 13.

For more info, contact Ninhursag Tadaros, ninhursag.tadaros@hhs.se

Stone tablet with building inscription dedicated by Amar-Suen, ruler of the city-state of Ur (2046–2038 BC) from Medelhavsmuseet´s Mesopotamian collection.