Michael Rakowitz's 'Allspice' Confronts Cultural Loss at Acropolis Museum Through Reappeared Antiquities
The exhibition 'Allspice' by Michael Rakowitz at the Temporary Exhibition Gallery of the Acropolis Museum explores the theme of cultural absence through sculptural representations of stolen artifacts. This Iraqi-American artist's work comments on cultural loss and connects with the absent Parthenon sculptures housed in the British Museum. Among the new pieces are 'Study for a Lamassu in spolia' and 'A Baghdadi Amba Dictionary.' His project 'The invisible enemy should not exist' reconstructs over 7,000 artifacts lost from Baghdad's National Museum using food packaging. Co-curator Elina Kountouri describes these as poetic political acts. The exhibition is open until 31 October and is part of a trilogy set to continue in 2025 and conclude in 2026, with support from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and NEON. Rakowitz's wit shines through in 'The Ballad of Special Ops Cody.'
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Allspice' runs until 31 October at Acropolis Museum's Temporary Exhibition Gallery
- First chapter of trilogy continuing through 2025-2026 in Athens
- Features three new commissions including 'Study for a Lamassu in spolia' and 'A Baghdadi Amba Dictionary'
- Includes works from ongoing series 'The invisible enemy should not exist' recreating 7000+ looted Iraqi artifacts
- Collaboration between Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Acropolis Museum, Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, and NEON
- Co-curated by Elina Kountouri
- Responds to absence of Parthenon sculptures held by British Museum
- Uses Middle Eastern food packaging and Arabic-English newspapers from diasporic communities
Entities
Artists
- Michael Rakowitz
Institutions
- Acropolis Museum
- Hellenic Ministry of Culture
- Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens
- NEON
- British Museum
- National Museum of Iraq
- Old Acropolis Museum
Locations
- Athens
- Greece
- Baghdad
- Iraq
- Cyprus
- London
- United Kingdom
- Chicago
- United States
- Nineveh