27/05/2026
ON VIEW
MICHAEL RAKOWITZ
Lamassu of Nineveh | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures
NEON + Acropolis Museum, Outdoor Garden, The Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
on view until 31 October 2026
The work is a major sculptural extension of Michael Rakowitz’s ongoing series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist (2006-ongoing). The series consists of ‘reappearances’ of artefacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad following the U.S. invasion in 2003 or destroyed at other sites in its aftermath.
The Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) was originally commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. Constructed from empty cans of Iraqi date syrup, the sculpture reconstructs the protective Assyrian deity, a Lamassu: a colossal 4.3-metre winged bull with a human face that once stood at the entrance of the Nergal Gate in ancient Nineveh. The original monument, dating from around 700 BCE, was destroyed in 2015 by ISIS, along with many other artefacts in the Mosul Cultural Museum.
The Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) installation – situated in the surroundings of the Acropolis Museum – brings the sculpture into immediate dialogue with multiple layers of history and memory: the archaeological excavation visible beneath the Museum, the sacred landscape of the Acropolis above, the modern city around it, and the contemporary architectural space of the Museum itself.
Rakowitz uses empty cans of Iraqi date syrup for his Lamassu installation. These cans represent the once-renowned Iraqi industry that was decimated, as well as the human, economic, and ecological devastation wrought by the Iraq wars and their aftermath. Through objects, Rakowitz refers to the people who live alongside them and to their stories. The Lamassu ‘reappears’ and continues its role as guardian in the past, present, and future.
More information: https://www.gagallery.com/exhibitions-worldwide/michael-rakowitz-lamassu-of-nineveh-michael-rakowitz-ancient-cultures
