Michael Rakowitz's Lamassu to Stand on London's Fourth Plinth in 2018

Michael Rakowitz has been selected to create the next commission for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, with his sculpture to be installed in 2018. The work, titled The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist, is part of a project he began in 2006 to recreate over 7,000 archaeological artifacts looted from the Iraqi Museum in Mosul or destroyed during war. For the plinth, Rakowitz will recreate a Lamassu, a protective spirit with a human head and winged bull body that guarded the Nergal Gate of Nineveh since 700 BC. The sculpture will be made from empty cans of an Iraqi syrup, symbolizing the country's war-decimated industry. The Fourth Plinth, designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1841, was originally intended for an equestrian statue that was never realized due to lack of funds. Rakowitz's commission joins a prestigious list of past winners including Mark Wallinger, Rachel Whiteread, Marc Quinn, Antony Gormley, Yinka Shonibare, and Katharina Fritsch. Heather Phillipson was also selected for the 2020 commission with her neo-pop sculpture The End, depicting a cream puff with two cherries attacked by flies.