While I had been working on understanding the legal regulations governing the repatriation of cultural heritage, Rakowitz had been using Arabic-language newspapers and food packaging to replicate artifacts stolen from the National Museum of Iraq. The resulting sculptures were colorful, charming, and powerful. They prompted me to think about what was important about the original antiquities.
How did the conflict between Iraqis and foreign collectors over ownership reflect both larger historical violence and more intimate uncertainties about identity? The work analyzes the role public monuments have played in the formation of American society, while also asking questions about how they—and America—might change.
Once again, Rakowitz and I are navigating similar ground—in different yet complimentary ways: I have just published a book on these topics, Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of American Monuments. When I heard Rakowitz had read it while preparing his project, I asked him to speak with me.
The following is an edited transcript of our conversation. Michael Rakowitz: I always tell this story about going to the British Museum at age ten, after my grandmother died.
She was the last person in our household who could recall life in Baghdad. My mother took us to the Assyrian galleries and showed us the reliefs of King Ashurbanipal hunting lions. She explained to us that it was the first comic book in human history and that it came from the same place where my grandmother was from—where we were from. These monuments were initially propaganda for the king.
