http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/plot-proposition-i daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788243966-YNZ4CAAB0EHSC6E3MYD4/0036_701-640x480.jpg (p)LOT: Proposition I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788244424-4UCKO2U8O7WYU5YW87P8/0060_ed1-640x481.jpg (p)LOT: Proposition I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788244680-UC31V3Y0R1G6USNXKDSU/0081_561-640x427.jpg (p)LOT: Proposition I https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788245080-6UDGOC4MUNP49AQKCT71/0082_d11-640x427.jpg (p)LOT: Proposition I http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-breakup daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869029090-SH0CUKL0DF1RC16JYE6G/breakup_01.jpg The Breakup Working from a complete set of the 150-hour audio tapes generated during the shooting of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s documentary Let It Be, I created a series of cascading narratives of the rise and fall of The Beatles, pinpointing the precise moment when alienation and isolation gave way to collapse, amid marathon meetings, wheedlings, rehearsals, and conflicts. There were, clearly, allegorical echoes between that collapse and the breakdown of political negotiations in Israel, Palestine, and across a Middle East that once dreamed of uniting under the banner of Pan-Arabism. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869032509-1Q0H9SX2X280A7AA2D8M/breakup_02.jpg The Breakup But there was, oddly, a more direct connection: those 1969 rehearsals were supposed to lead to their first live performance in three years, and Paul McCartney’s dream was for The Beatles to make their triumphant return with a concert in North Africa—amphitheaters in El Jem, Tunisia and Sabratha, Libya were booked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869029844-439ROOQX6YBLZ0W81LCM/breakup_03.jpg The Breakup The band ultimately reached an impasse; Ringo and George vetoed the final proposal. The epic concert in the “exotic location” would not materialize, and the compromise was a short and sweet and pathetic rooftop concert one chilly afternoon in London. Disembodied but familiar voices wafted over pedestrians in the street, broadcasted from the same height as church bells or minarets: one final call to prayer for the fanatics down below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869039726-ODQ1DFXGK4X1DLUOCGZ9/breakup_04.jpg The Breakup The Breakup culminated in a recreation of that final concert, three decades later, against the backdrop of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. Members of the celebrated Palestinian band Sabreen—who met at university in the early 1980s and began their career playing Beatles songs at wedding parties, and who had broken up in 2002—came together to perform five Arabic-inflected Beatles songs on the roof of the Swedish Christian Study Centre in Jerusalem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869041303-INC874I367TKE5WPTGWK/breakup_05.jpg The Breakup The songs were selected and ordered to form a kind of poem about collaboration and collapse, and about dreams that cannot be deferred indefinitely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869042085-9MZFDXRAHYZE01STHE6Y/breakup_06.png The Breakup Live in Jerusalem 2010 is a deluxe gatefold vinyl LP recording of Sabreen's concert published by Bidoun. The cover concept for refers to Live Peace in Toronto 1969, an album documenting a September 13, 1969 performance by the Plastic Ono Band at Varsity Stadium, Toronto. For the cover of Live Peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began with Blue, a painting by Yves Klein. The work depicts a sky of pure, sparkling azure; John and Yoko introduced via photo collage the image of a single cloud. “By us putting a cloud there,” Ono said, “it suddenly became the real sky—and the real world—as opposed to perfection.” Live in Jerusalem takes the same Klein painting, collaged now with a photographic image of the aerial bombardment of Gaza in January 2009, correcting the utopic perfection proposed in John and Yoko’s gesture by imposing a darker cloud upon Klein’s idealized sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869042388-JY5F5I74XFDKUB78PT8P/breakup_07.jpg The Breakup The Breakup was also a multi-facted multimedia event at Lombard Freid Gallery, New York, September 6–October 17, 2012, featuring drawings, memorabilia real and imagined, and radio broadcasts, as well as the limited edition release of Live in Jerusalem 2010. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869052938-VAIAVYGS2X02FRXI6CAK/breakup_08.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869045650-8ISCAERW1W1FIAGK347E/breakup_010.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869077518-H39P7BKXKXD06D44NMRA/MR_TheBreakupInstall_1.jpg The Breakup Referring to the uniforms and medals worn by The Beatles on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band—their seminal 1967 album, released just days before the start of the Six Day War—four shadow boxes upholstered in the same colored satin display the military awards issued by Middle Eastern countries from 1948-1973. Handwritten notations on the glass frame attempts to draw comparisons between John, Paul, George and Ringo to Egypt, Syria, Israel and Jordan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869049729-MUA43THRXISNFHO2B6BS/breakup_011.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869051833-KPXXGG0U22JOKPYCWATH/breakup_012.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869059087-EQS9YK34WF4Z0NN5KXYH/breakup_013.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869063214-JG1YXPRTTXXQH0ZLTYLK/breakup_014.jpg The Breakup Fastasy items, from unreleased Beatles albums to proposed Palestinian currency are presented in a vitrine with handwritten captions on glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869062506-3BE6I78QJ86D8CQ5Y3RS/breakup_015.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869071475-XTGCAAHXULA72O3Q3O1K/breakup_016.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869071222-T1OVS2XVFKGKG28TT4ZG/breakup_017.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869072422-XVDTB1B1JZJN7Y0UJOZG/MR_Inshallah+at+Sabratha_03.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869074953-R6BOLAZ84QV8A6RVH95Y/MR_Study+for+The+Breakup_Fantasy+Objects+%28detail%29_02.JPG The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869076177-JZY9X2HOEMPUJ2JH5SMN/MR_Study+for+The+Breakup_The+Summer+of+Setback+%28detail%29_06.JPG The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869081223-M8XU08GLWXGESPSIERLC/MR_Study_FantasyObjects.jpg The Breakup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869078411-F0K01JV71JI1VAW0A66I/splash-B34EA5FA-FBC4-11E1-8AC5-5B6802A3A79E.jpg The Breakup http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/native-landing daily 0.75 2015-07-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436482240646-C2TTL45CYJ7RVB7KNIVM/image-asset.jpeg Native Landing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436482240646-C2TTL45CYJ7RVB7KNIVM/image-asset.jpeg Native Landing http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/wheel daily 0.75 2025-11-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436384018514-M97ZA6RBBRKL4TS02HXK/wheel_velvet_extrablack2.jpg Wheel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436561702731-YP6JPXW9S7VRQFEF88J5/wheel_velvet-8x12.jpg Wheel - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436561702731-YP6JPXW9S7VRQFEF88J5/wheel_velvet-8x12.jpg Wheel - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/parasite daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212783-EFSIVDPBTA0LNIY49JEM/0048_291-465x680.jpg paraSITE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214602-Y42C2SXO1TV8QLBK2EYM/0090_a01-640x427.jpg paraSITE Bill S.’s paraSITE shelter. He requested as many windows as possible, because “homeless people don’t have privacy issues, but they do have security issues. We want to see potential attackers, we want to be visible to the public.” Six windows are placed at eye level for when Bill is seated and six smaller windows for when Bill is reclining. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213202-8UATQMUKOK7MA54RS1SU/0050_071-640x430.jpg paraSITE George L.’s paraSITE shelter. Made on a budget of $5.00 from trash bags, ZipLoc bags, and clear waterproof packing tape. George requested a system of “ribs” that would be made of semi-translucent trash bags. In between the ribs, he wanted windows to expose the “meat” between the bones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212454-VYXNC5MJLOTBC44SFKSM/0032_081-640x427.jpg paraSITE The windows are made of Ziploc sandwich bags and serve as pockets to display personal items and signage for the public. Privacy and publicity can be regulated by adding or removing objects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214761-D6FWQT0DB66IHPO8N2JS/0020_a91-640x435.jpg paraSITE Bill S., Freddie F., and George L. with Freddie’s paraSITE shelter. An avid science fiction fan, Freddie requested a shelter in the shape of Jabba the Hutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214248-WFLXIFQAZKP0PT43S3V7/0069_4d1-640x422.jpg paraSITE Joe H. using his paraSITE shelter in February 2000. Joe is a homeless man who lived on the streets near Battery Park City in Manhattan. In the 1970s, he became a contractor and was responsible for building over fifteen buildings in Brooklyn. He was diagnosed with cancer in the 1980s after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the Air Force in Vietnam. After forty-seven different operations to treat the cancer, the Veteran’s Association of America ceased paying his medical bills and he went bankrupt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213584-YLKI8SJP95OQJH2HAP49/0067_351-640x422.jpg paraSITE Michael M. using his paraSITE shelter on 26th Street and 9th Avenue in New York. Michael was a homeless man who worked for the United Homeless Organization. He wanted to respond to an obscure anti-tent by-law being enforced by the Giuliani administration, which stated that any structure 3.5 feet or taller set up on city property would be considered an illegal encampment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213944-O1TEZR7MMRUX36QQ2N3K/0068_841-640x431.jpg paraSITE We designed his shelter to be closer to the ground, more like a sleeping bag or some kind of body extension. Thus, if questioned by the police, he could argue that the law did not apply because the shelter was not, in fact, a tent. On more than one occasion, Michael was confronted by police officers. After measuring his shelter, the officers moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1612631812902-HGOMSEKK2JJAAMHC53OI/paraSITE+definition.jpg paraSITE The chosen title, paraSITE, is layered in its meaning, its derivation, and its understanding. paraSITE borrows its prefix from the French definition of para, which translates to English as "guard against". Para, when it joins its suffix chute as parachute translates to "guard against falling." The French word for umbrella, parapluie translates to "guard against rain". The prefix thus has a history in describing protective or preventive devices, or objects related to the tasks of survival and rescue. The suffix, site, refers to a place or location. We can interpret this word, both prefix and suffix to mean "guard against a site", the act of holding or occupying a space. But in the context of a nomadic project based on the ephemeral the interpretation must also turn to "guard against situating" or guard against "becoming a site"; the nomad moves on, deterritorializing themself. Looking at the work, one can make a physical association to a parachute, a folding umbrella like fabric device with chords supporting a harness or straps for allowing a person to float down safely through the air from a great height, rendered effective by the resistance of the air that expands it during the descent and reduces the velocity of its fall. paraSITE is similar, in that it too is a membrane structure relying upon the resistance of air in its use. Inflated by the exterior fan ducts of architecture, it provides a new space to occupy, amplifying the harsh reality of life on the street, while offering refuge. paraSITE scandalizes the above notions of safety or rescue while simultaneously making use of them. While there is an element of invention, of genuine survival strategy applied to this project, it also is presented as an act of desperation, an unacceptable approach to the problem as a design or as a solution. It is a project made at the intersection of problem-solving and trouble-making. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352219477-0P24DSA862X5A0HJPLTO/parasite03.jpg paraSITE Step-by-step, DIY instructions on how to build a paraSITE shelter, printed in L’Itineraire, a Montréal-based magazine that features some articles written by homeless people, who also sell the magazine to passersby on the street. Published in January 2009, with plans to print the same instructions in Motz, a Berlin-based newspaper published and sold by homeless people, and also in a similar publication in London, called The Pavement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212134-D0KK013XMW93NFO7FU7X/0021_421-640x440.jpg paraSITE Design process sketches for a shelter built for Artie, a 62-year-old homeless man living near Madison Square Garden. Artie often stands in line for concert tickets at the request of scalpers. For his paraSITE, Artie requested a domed sitting space for himself and his girlfriend, Myra, connected to a lower, intimate sleeping area for two, “the lovin’ room.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352211848-EF2N978KKAX239H7TFHA/0018_1a1-640x424.jpg paraSITE Halfway through construction, I received a call from Artie ordering me to stop building. “Myra talks way too much!” he explained, and asked that I make two domed sitting areas, separated by the lovin’ room. “It should look like a bra, or a dogbone.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352220141-QZOF6NNHFBBYYK9MUMK1/MR_parasitedrawing6.jpg paraSITE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352216611-WJD3PULI10FGO6WOQOYQ/MR_parasitedrawing1.jpg paraSITE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436485515601-MFCMXXD5YOGCOIVS928D/wheel_blankwall.jpg paraSITE http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/intro daily 0.75 2015-07-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436386818241-TL74DXPG5RI0PL7N11A3/wheel_velvet_extrablack.jpg Intro http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/parasite2 daily 0.75 2014-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436384882567-GZLWMTDNRYTQYAXQF2HT/0090_a01-640x427.jpg Parasite http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/plot daily 0.75 2014-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436384397901-4D8PDJ6X9HZJHLVHVYFZ/0082_d11-640x427.jpg Plot http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/home daily 0.75 2015-07-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435358555833-FWFOIY4ZYFG1JABI3QLG/image-asset.jpeg Supply Landing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435358555833-FWFOIY4ZYFG1JABI3QLG/image-asset.jpeg Supply Landing http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/avenue-landing daily 0.75 2015-07-09 http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/information daily 0.75 2026-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435344293192-ODUC9XCUIAV4E1KS6M1W/wheel_velvet.jpg http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/home-1 daily 0.75 2015-06-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436383818702-BRCE55JJECVYE96O55VD/wheel_velvet_extrablack2.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a74d9ae4b0253945d2aee9/1535394848185-CGDDU4QCIRSO4U1270H3/image-asset.jpeg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a74d9ae4b0253945d2aee9/1535394867157-MTQAOAQPKWQ68DDY1HTW/tumblr_mn8b8sLRb61rkz363o1_1280.jpg Home http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/may-the-arrogant-not-prevail daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303309-5KUQ6A1F3KPM6CYQ5KSZ/arrogant_01.jpg May the arrogant not prevail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795301415-OWIY7V9R44JW2M5VKUH4/arrgoant_02.jpg May the arrogant not prevail From 1899-1912, the Gate was excavated by a German archaeologist, Robert Koldewey transported to Berlin, where it was installed piece by piece in the Pergamon Museum. Missing bricks were reconstructed and included among authentic relics, to recreate the grandeur of the original. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795301815-30NFLTE74HCWGI28D4UB/arrogant_03.jpg May the arrogant not prevail In the 1950s, in the area that was ancient Babylon, the government of Iraq built a three-quarter reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate out of plaster and plywood to replace the original excavated and removed by the Germans. It was meant to stand as the entrance to a proposed museum. The museum was never completed. During the Iraq War, it served as one of the most popular photo backdrops for US soldiers serving in Iraq. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795302234-DD2U5G9O4CLNXL2BMMUY/arrogant_04.jpg May the arrogant not prevail Installed in the entrance of the exhibition space at the Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, May the Arrogant Not Prevail is a scaled-down reconstruction of the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate still standing in Iraq. Built by a Berlin-based team of assistants out of plywood and wooden beams, and clad with color-correct packaging of Arabic foodstuffs found in Berlin, the gate extends many of the material themes and conceptual concerns of The invisible enemy should not exist, but, just like the title, serves as an alternate translation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795302672-35IUZ7R4TOT9O5LOGIQX/arrogant_05.jpg May the arrogant not prevail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303030-93EGRLBLNMXHK85AEB4K/arrogant_06.jpg May the arrogant not prevail Instead of simply creating a surrogate for what has been taken away, May the Arrogant Not Prevail brings “home” to Berlin a copy of one that already exists at the scene of the crime. Seeking to be both polemic and poetic, the recreation speaks to the makeshift qualities of the Iraqi reconstruction: the structural timbers and plywood are exposed upon entrance, and instead of plaster, the materials are even more pathetic in the form of the detritus of commodities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303665-VGH9MB5XL9NQGSTQ25AQ/arrogant_07.jpg May the arrogant not prevail Like a child who has seen a ghost and reenacts the scare with a bedsheet, the imitation is made earnestly yet poorly. Still, the apparition appears, and haunts the haus with the hopes of conjuring the mus hus su dragons, lions and bulls rendered in the tiles of the original—to free them from their mudbrick grave for an immediate return home to Iraq. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/michael-rakowitz daily 0.75 2015-07-09 http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/dar-al-sulh daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871966115-QJOM2LXSLDFVAIMYY5NV/dar02.png Dar Al Sulh Jews were once Arabs, too. Their exodus from Arab lands is one that has been propagandized and mythologized by Israel, by the flawed narrative of Zionism, and by other entities in order to bolster specific cultural and political positions. Dar Al Sulh seeks to be a time machine, to reactivate a space when there was harmony, when Jews had not yet abandoned their Arab selves, before Jewish populations in the Arab world were assumed to be complicit with Zionism. The notion of conciliation is the central philosophy of Dar Al Sulh, meant to be reflected in the food and the conversations spoken around it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871966297-MVU8EXX39888ZP6M5GSA/dar01.jpg Dar Al Sulh My grandmother, Renée Isaac David (Née Shamoon), center, with her sister Marcelle, left, and her sister-in-law Leonie. Baghdad, Iraq, ca. 1940. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871974760-U7EHRHCHKVCLECU5H8MB/dar04.jpg Dar Al Sulh The surfaces upon which the dinners were served are from Jewish families who left Iraq in the 1940s and 1950s. Some are everyday dishes. Others are more precious, like the tray pictured here, which was used to serve traditional recipes in the Great Synagogue of Baghdad. Nearly all of the serving ware are small and made of metal, compact enough to be placed under clothing and smuggled—many Jews had to leave Iraq without any of their belongings— and sturdy enough to survive the journey without shattering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871985689-11LT4KHARQEZF7S97J78/dar03.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871981842-5DEKPX808DRDA0LMN7NC/dar05.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871988497-568J2RF4DO83YFXLHUUH/dar06.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871991276-DAQOVYW0RTTG8WH2KIZ0/dar08.jpg Dar Al Sulh The meals were thematically organized into seven loose themes to reflect the properties of each meal, and to instigate the topic of each dinner discussion. They are light and heavy, augmented by the five basic tastes, four of which were once mistakenly believed to be detected by specific areas of the tongue. Bitter Sour Salty Sweet Umami https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872014934-0T97TPSY2LRSBRYA8HKE/dar010.jpg Dar Al Sulh Preparing Kubba Qari’yi on opening night, May 1, 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872025028-H2BG0DXRE1UJXRUMQO7Z/dar013.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872019031-TJMPAYHPA13CAUROF7KK/dar011.jpg Dar Al Sulh Dr. Ella Habiba Shohat, herself an Iraqi Jew, is Professor of Cultural Studies at New York University and affiliated with NYU-Abu Dhabi. Since the 1980s she has written extensively on Orientalism, postcoloniality, and diasporic cultures, while also developing critical approaches to the study of Arab-Jews, focusing especially on Iraq and its diaspora. She served as interlocutor and co-host at Dar Al Sulh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872028541-V7QDMRFJJZTBDEAEQAFU/dar014.jpg Dar Al Sulh Mhasha, a dish consisting of stuffed grape leaves, aubergines, courgettes, peppers, onions and tomatoes. Cooked and served on the final night, May 7, 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872028738-JVQBBQMGE3O1PF3P92JR/dar015.jpg Dar Al Sulh The restaurant also hosted Tuning Baghdad, which provided a soundtrack for the dining experience. A project initiated by independent curator Regine Basha—our other co-host and interlocutor at Dar Al Sulh—Tuning Baghdad brings together a growing archive of rare video footage, audio clips, and historical information on Iraqi-Jewish musicians and the music scene that was displaced from Baghdad in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Basha’s father, an avid oud player. The last generation of Iraqi-Jewish musicians who performed in Baghdad are now in their 70s and 80s; they represent an era when an unusually large number of Iraqi Jews were composing and performing Arabic music. For decades these musicians were the teachers and beloved performers of Iraq’s traditional maqams and modern compositions on the country’s National Broadcast Station. Further information, including audio recordings and video, can be found at tuningbaghdad.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872037508-O7WU7OC5IGQBJUXZTEVH/dar016.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872034606-LE7N9QNVYON2KMYT1DMK/dar017.jpg Dar Al Sulh Dr. Ella Habiba Shohat delivering a typical Iraqi Jewish greeting before the meal to diners at Dar Al Sulh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872065044-1S3JSLRRH4YVSJNS1XBH/dar021.jpg Dar Al Sulh A single photo adorned the walls of Dar Al Sulh: Palestinians protecting the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. The image serves as a surrogate for others that do not seem to have been documented, of the Muslims and Christians in Baghdad who protected their Jewish neighbors’ homes during the Farhud, the anti-Jewish riots and pogrom that erupted in the Iraqi capital in June, 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872050868-INQ0HCFRIGOSXP4GJ89N/dar018.jpg Dar Al Sulh While it was impossible to openly advertise an Iraqi Jewish restaurant in Dubai—our signage instead declared “Cuisine of an Absent Tribe”—each night’s dinner service was sold out beyond capacity and in the end, more than 500 diners ate at Dar Al Sulh over seven nights. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872071976-K3VGUOC3T8DGWZL7OB1O/dar022.jpg Dar Al Sulh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872046732-89195DMW90YB2OGTNNQW/dar019.jpg Dar Al Sulh Two Iraqi flags hung inside the restaurant. The first one was adopted for six months in 1958, and was identical to the Palestinian flag. The second was donated by an Iraqi Jewish man who wished to remain anonymous and was a communist back in the 1960s and sent this message: This flag comes from the personal collection of an Iraqi Jew who was a member of the communist party in the 1940s, and left Iraq in 1961. “I was an admirer of Yusuf Salman Yusuf, aka Comrade Fahd. General Qassim was as close an ally as we ever had in the Iraqi leadership. Please fly his flag in Dar Al Sulh. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/what-dust-will-rise daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789863184-4JTFJKK3OKAUCOE4LWUY/whatdust01.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789855913-VKXEKGELX9IIXERB29WP/whatdust02.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789858352-Y0EP8ETYUHEXYQEM5E02/whatdust03.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789858969-4Y5LKSIPYYSR7D5WTEWU/whatdust04.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789866224-FZ89L17RA8SYOE0PLSQS/whatdust05.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789870843-2T7HCAE037UD6SD616BX/whatdust06.jpg What dust will rise? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789872007-GW1AQW3NS0ZEFAQ8GWZP/whatdust07.jpg What dust will rise? 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http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/test-ballot-examining-the-faulty-machinery-of-democracy daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239457-QZ2CGEEFMDHKM1PMSODM/0064_a81-469x660.jpeg Test Ballot: Examining the Faulty Machinery of Democracy Newspaper declaring Kerry the winner in Innsbruck, Austria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239475-JX9SCV3MA7SES37SMGS4/0083_7f1-640x427.jpeg Test Ballot: Examining the Faulty Machinery of Democracy Voting in Innsbruck, Austria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239881-8JV6UQ1DZH47UT658HIA/0084_651-640x427.jpeg Test Ballot: Examining the Faulty Machinery of Democracy Voting in Ljubljana, Slovenia http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-worst-condition daily 0.75 2026-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513533-8H46M6D60JLG5N2KU1UV/worstcondition_02.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873516601-PWUO3EUK927VM924STGB/worstcondition_01.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873514117-T41L7VKLLP6C5KJCQC0B/worstcondition_03.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own The narrative begins with the development of the hot air balloon in late 18th-century France as a visionary form of transport and transcendence that eventually was used for surveillance purposes. Jules Verne acts as a transitional figure, moving the story up to the 20th century and genius arms designer Gerald Bull, who as a boy imagined building a gun that could, as in Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon,” fire payloads into outer space. Working in the 1980s for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, he nearly succeeded—but he was murdered by foreign agents shortly before completing the weapon of his dreams, code-named “Project Babylon.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873515156-AVPSVYDQV6GHRQP3IMZG/worstcondition_04.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873516128-5LMPKL9NJT3SAUDA375F/worstcondition_05.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513052-UV3HCO1ROS6LLXEQG2L1/worstcondition_0.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873517140-Y57SP8CXKYXJMDQSK9X6/worstcondition_07.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own Bull’s aborted project was not the only part of Hussein’s armory designed under the sign of fantasy. The installation also explores the influence of the Star Wars movies on the uniforms worn by the Fedayeen Saddam, an elite militia whose members dressed like Darth Vader. The paramilitary group was under the leadership of Saddam’s son, Uday, who was an avid fan of George Lucas’ space opera. Saddam’s design of the Victory Arch in Baghdad echoes the crossed lightsabers in a famous Star Wars poster illustrated by Boris Vallejo whose best friend, Rowena Morrill, authored paintings that were found in the Iraqi leader’s palaces. And, on the eve of the first Gulf War, the Iraqi Army paraded underneath the Arch to the theme song from Star Wars for Iraqi TV cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873518215-XJM46NFK21ZEA2U1O118/worstcondition_08.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own The installation’s title derives from a saying of Hussein’s that appeared on the invitation card for the inauguration of the Arch, built in 1989 to commemorate Iraq’s “victory” over Iran. The original monument features swords cast from weapons used in the Iran-Iraq War and features 2,500 helmets of vanquished Iranians cascading at its base. A large-scale sculpture reproduces this monument in materials that connect with the theme of boyhood fantasy: dozens of plastic light sabers for the Arch, GI Joe figurines encased in resin for the helmets (modeled on the Fedayeen’s own Vader-like helmets) that surround the sculpture’s base. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873512715-65FF00X03NNADZ58F8PP/MR_LFP_Worst+Condition_+Victory+Arch+2.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513121-IG7GTT5T27S9UT41CX3R/MR_LFP_Worst+Condition_Victory+Arch.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873518855-JYT70BIUKF87UM0WCELT/worstcondition_09.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873510867-7IGDI7QBAEDBYLPHHZ43/Fedayeen+Untitled+%233+-+view+1_low.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873511487-I7WV2K6MFCHB6QVHK7KW/Fedayeen+Untitled+%233+-+view+3.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873519411-NE3UM9B8S7MUAPXED2BZ/worstcondition_010.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own The entrance to the exhibition space is framed by wallpaper featuring the hundreds of photographs found on soldiers’ blogs, Flickr accounts and other sources that feature military officers and contractors posing in front of the Victory Arch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873520703-1A4I4CCFCI3WR9DAGDR5/worstcondition_011.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873521469-ZRVK0RJUE4VP2PN84R8H/worstcondition_012.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own A vitrine displays a Japanese Samurai helmet along with a World War I German army helmet and gas mask. These three elements served as the inspiration for Darth Vader’s armor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873523328-V9NXEDAARMQ2FHXA3LG2/worstcondition_014.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own Next to these examples sit Darth Vader’s helmet and one of the Iraqi Fedayeen Saddam helmets, thus conveying a timeline where examples from the battlefield inspire a Hollywood filmic mythology, which in turns inspires armor found on the battlefield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873523351-75QTP80K7G6JVEX6GF30/worstcondition_015.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own The project’s final image is of Hussein’s face on the moon—the moon every boy and world leader dreamed of reaching—seen through a telescope whose shape is derived from Bull’s ill-fated Project Babylon supergun, and is constructed from the boxes of toy military models. Rumors of this lunar vision spread on the night Hussein was hanged, echoing rumors that had circulated four decades earlier, the night of the execution of Qassim, the Iraqi ruler who Saddam eventually replaced. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873524806-CX1JH530EMQ93IA5LDD3/worstcondition_016.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873524525-3GM709VA6ZG5MC40OXCO/worstcondition_017.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own A free comic book was published as a component of the exhibition and was also printed in Bidoun Magazine, Issue 16. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873526143-L6BMAURTYTCEI94NUIIZ/worstcondition_018.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873526831-MYLMZJS45ETNG7DARZ8X/worstcondition_019.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873527019-PZ8U1AEZQC02HEV9HQ3W/worstcondition_020.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873528106-JCVD2KF7NE3LR5G4MB9E/worstcondition_021.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873529651-JSLQRETF8MJXBTCT3SSR/worstcondition_022.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873521957-3RDRYP19HN2I8CP45FHB/worstcondition_013.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873529819-K20EJU88L9GCTH39TO57/worstcondition_023.jpg The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/white-man-got-no-dreaming daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874301830-93O6KO6N4YBU9W6AL7QV/whiteman_019.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874282423-2FD255VYDJD6YPI57W4G/whiteman_06.jpg White man got no dreaming Vladimir Tatlin was one of the most important avant-garde Soviet artists. Expelled from art school in his youth, he spent time wandering through Russia, earning his living working on sailboats and steamers, and as a circus boxer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281670-IKJTD1LDH60O1Z7GZB4O/whiteman_02.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874282536-29D3RR9HNKX1JQR6WAFJ/whiteman_07.jpg White man got no dreaming The characteristic spiral of Tatlin’s Monument was translated by many in the community to be connected to the traditional use of the spiral in Aborginal Western Desert painting, often connoting a waterhole, or gathering ground—precisely what The Block has become for Indigenous people throughout the country. Figures like Mum Shirl and Father Ted Kennedy were central in establishing ministries and services for the community, and wharfies like Chicka Dixon and former boxer Teddy Rainbow were amongst the first activists who organized to establish the Aboriginal Housing Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281543-6PA9B1JG4E0NFJCVVNNL/whiteman_03.jpg White man got no dreaming Exterior and interior of dilapidated houses on The Block where materials such as timbers, wire and corrugated steel were salvaged to construct the tower. The tower connects the intention of visionary architecture to dream with the Aboriginal belief that the world was created during the Dreamtime. Their tribal Dreaming stories explain how life, places, people and animals came to be. The term was popularized by anthropologist W.E.H Stanner after an Aboriginal man told him, “White man got no dreaming.” Bereft of dreaming, of the notion of timeless time and perpetual creation, white man has instead the “Great Australian Silence,” a disremembering of such injustices as the government policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874284971-75G3FNO5L9ESCFEPZWHS/whiteman_08.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281865-XX21N1N1V6YBDIFWGJ2H/whiteman_04.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874284796-VXVSM9PHP1S1Z8O0JIFW/whiteman_09.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281962-LQ2GMFBP8FH5JYII4XDX/whiteman_05.jpg White man got no dreaming Drawings connect Tatlin’s history to the current architectural struggle to build the visionary Pemulwuy Aboriginal Housing Project on The Block, a struggle wrapped up in over two hundred years of racism and human/civil rights abuses committed by the Australian government. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874286215-0U3YT0NOKET7M2JWF55C/whiteman_010.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874292672-CGUPGK1PUEXEZIKICXQ4/whiteman_014.jpg White man got no dreaming Details showing the materials used, including the wiring from the houses (much of which was coincidentally red, black and yellow, the colors of the Aboriginal flag). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874289325-JCGMN4B7A1XC3E5VVGTO/whiteman_011.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874294866-3ZUNSTSZ04JJOWKTTKCG/whiteman_0017.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874287695-L6PIOOT3O9IERIE09B8B/whiteman_012.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874296965-X61NKNIIV9ENAN12MP6X/whiteman_018.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874294155-VSN2UVQWXOHFPRY2N2LE/whiteman_013.jpg White man got no dreaming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874280510-3EUX5WBJM27XBYBUUYAJ/whiteman_01.jpg White man got no dreaming http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/endgames daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170540-5RE2G5C1SR7SZHXZRXR1/endgames_01.jpg Endgames 20 May 1976, Montreal—Final preparations for the Summer Olympics were underway when the United States pavilion, a twenty-storey geodesic dome built by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67, caught fire during routine repairs. The entire acrylic shell was gone within half an hour, the metal structure reduced to one more ruin among the abandoned national pavilions that populated the island. Nine years prior, the site had served as a global playground, virtually insuring the city’s bid to host the 1976 Summer Games. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170548-GF7VQA2WXEMBUZEUKCZV/endamges_02.jpg Endgames A series of drawings demonstrate the lineage of events, ranging from the failure of Buckminster Fuller’s first full-size geodesic structure in 1948 at Black Mountain College; through the use of Expo 67’s futuristic ruins as the backdrop for a sci-fi television show; and onward to the 2004 demise of the Montreal Expos, the baseball team that played in the infamous Stade Olympique, built for the 1976 Olympics but never completed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170675-R02Z1WFHONARV1GKFS18/endgames_03.jpg Endgames With the demise of Buckminster Fuller’s pavilion serving as the central episode, the viewer is invited to enter Spirit of 76, a 2m-tall geodesic dome. The white dome seems the quiet and hopeful emblem of Utopian architecture, only to reveal a surface marred by a projected image of the pavilion engulfed in flames. Inside hangs a mobile constructed of celestial symbols physically extruded from various national flags, inspired by the protestors who removed the stars from the American flag during President Lyndon Johnson’s visit to Expo 67, an episode recounted in an adjacent drawing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170802-T9FZW294LL62DZ2DO02Q/endgames_04.jpg Endgames https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170926-6VKHR70RKY8M0D1XVWWD/endgames_05.jpg Endgames Abandoned sports stadiums serve as the point of departure for a series of drawings, discrete objects and sculptures picturing Houston’s Astrodome, built as the “Eighth Wonder of the World” only to be rendered obsolete by 1999—and to then provide emergency shelter in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Proposals for a Flexible Architecture extends this hybrid function by transforming models of the Astrodome and other stadiums into mosques, making use of an Islamic clause that allows existing structures to function as religious architecture. Point Conversion transforms an Astroturf playing field into a prayer rug. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876171024-S941DZPEPXGT37C1G1QA/endgames_06.jpg Endgames https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876171217-MVRTJTEGZ1SCJOYDLJFR/endgames_07.jpg Endgames http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-visionaries daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876593147-F8ECCJ2KTGZX3VYDEGBV/0089_d81-640x452.jpeg The Visionaries Commissioned hand-painted sign illustrating geodesic dome rising out of the rubble of Pruitt-Igoe. The Hungarian text translates as “The Visionaries.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592830-847NNAWAP6928W79CED7/0087_be1-640x481.jpeg The Visionaries Wearing a sandwich board derived from the temporary structures that display political campaign posters around Budapest, I walked the streets of the city. Removed from the body, the board transforms into a portable drafting studio. Participants were asked to enlist their dreams and visions as a tool to ignite discussion and critical perspective, in an effort to construct alternative visual possibilities that reach beyond the ideas of investors who are influencing the future of these sites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591076-ZMWMSZLUEALDI7RP2LSW/0004_f11-570x450.jpeg The Visionaries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876590772-R9X9UHYGY4HQBDMDS98L/0072_841-640x617.jpeg The Visionaries Gozdik Richard proposed two very tall glass towers and a bridge to connect them. A resident of the VIII district, Richard is proud of the neighborhood’s rich immigrant culture that includes Chinese, Roma and Arab inhabitants. The tower is based on a lighthouse, the bridge a beam of light, symbolizing Hungary’s reputation as a gateway to the East. One tower would be built on Rakoczi Ter, rising at least 18-20 storeys above the ground, giving visitors a rare “view of Buda, the way that people in Buda can see Pest”. People would also be able to look out on Pest and see from above the way it is changing. Walking along the bridge, the pedestrian would see an exhibit about the migration of the district’s immigrant cultures as they themselves are moving. The visitor would then exit from the equally tall glass tower located on the “missing tooth” in Blaha Ter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592102-PHZ4O4SD81KZKRX952OV/0085_f61-640x489.jpeg The Visionaries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591268-LGN4MLZJQ7WY9Y8J79G0/0074_461-640x634.jpeg The Visionaries https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592350-ZRDZ9UCBTUETE4UZ9L0D/0086_1a1-640x474.jpeg The Visionaries Istvan, a resident of the VII District, proposed Monument to How They Regard Us. “You should just make it look like a big fucking meteor hit the building”, he explained. “The authorities sell off the land to investors with little or no interest in the opinions of their citizens, so it is like the decision comes from above, out of the sky and “on top of us.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592815-CX3FMLPH9PL4VWTW6JLS/0088_af1-640x244.jpeg The Visionaries The resulting dozen drawings were displayed in Trafo Gallery in four suspended pavilions, inspired by Hungarian architect Yona Friedman’s sketch for La Ville Spatiale from 1958 (left)—a visionary project for a city that would accommodate the free will of its citizens and would be suspended on a framework above the existing urban space, avoiding any displacement of what came before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591684-WYKIH0EH2Q0O6H6SJ270/0078_011-640x435.jpeg The Visionaries http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/dull-roar daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876872669-UOM4FX1SO5FZB4C7HA8R/0016_6e1-640x474.jpeg Dull Roar The hush, like that of a football crowd awaiting the outcome of a crucial place kick in the last seconds of a bowl game, was ended by sharp explosions. As the reinforced steel and concrete building crumbled into rubble a spontaneous shout arose from the spectators. -St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 22, 1972, the day after the second Pruitt-Igoe building was imploded https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873834-20SMR3W2FBC8D70RC9VH/0023_f71-518x660.jpeg Dull Roar 15 drawings depicting mansions built atop Pruitt-Igoe’s ruins in Ladue, MO are displayed along the platform (2 sheets of vellum each) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873589-1CK2FFG7Y57M8CIOJHQV/0040_a51-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876874101-JYM50O9IN9QANN5BKEAH/0041_261-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876875478-EK3DPQOTOIXO7UCO5A6L/0042_8d1-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876874418-2SCDH9JWYU0A52T4MN22/0043_ba1-640x482.jpeg Dull Roar Dull Roar marks the threshold moment of Pruitt-Igoe’s destruction and links it to several other deaths of Modernism in the form of discrete sculptural objects and drawings. The October 1972 carbon monoxide suicide of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss is marked by Positive Agitation, a Dreyfuss Hoover 150 vacuum circa 1936, which breathes in and out through a car tailpipe. Last Gasp, an inflatable structure attached to a hand dryer, connects the death of modernist architect Louis Kahn in a Penn Station restroom to Yamasaki’s recently demolished Pruitt-Igoe and his newly opened World Trade Center. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873080-M9C80J8Y0P23JFT9BDKB/0024_b01-457x640.jpeg Dull Roar http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/romanticized-all-out-of-proportion daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441125-BQHVO9AS9SR4EZ1T097N/0071_501-640x480.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion Film selections were made by visitors to the Panorama who responded to a survey that asked them to recall a specific scene from a movie they felt illustrated their experience, attitude, or expectations of New York City. The first seven scene selections were presented from August to December, 2002; the second from January to June, 2003. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441705-1O4MQMGU5P8BF8Q50N9B/0080_a81-640x427.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877440292-7ZDUUQVUW6A2Y3Z1PVQR/0062_0a1-640x158.png Romanticized all out of proportion Next to each screen was a label showing a still from the real movie, while on the LCD screen appeared a live feed from the Panorama of the scene in question. Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1977) and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) were among the common cinematic references. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441491-RJHWTG7KLDS1Z9UFVYRL/0063_7b1-640x177.png Romanticized all out of proportion http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/enemy-kitchen daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161161-9CAJ5G843MIUEAQQG6WR/0026_7c1-640x541.jpeg Enemy Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161804-7F4AKI8EL91QYAJAI0MD/0028_f01-640x481.jpeg Enemy Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161856-ZVEB4OC3SGD5393G6YWT/0029_d11-640x481.jpeg Enemy Kitchen Making baklawa. Other dishes made with these students include kubba bamia, a meat dumpling stew served with okra over basmati rice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160841-0M06JFUO2YZ9AP1NBHGB/0012_b41-480x640.jpeg Enemy Kitchen On one occasion, a student walked in and said, “Why are we making this nasty food? They (the Iraqis) blow up our soldiers every day and they knocked down the Twin Towers.” One student corrected her and said, “The Iraqis didn’t destroy the Twin Towers, bin Laden did.” Another said, “It wasn’t bin Laden, it was our government.” In this way, the project provided a space where the opinions, myths and facts that are perpetuated in a country during wartime could be communicated and discussed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871162719-BUG49ASJ5VVOW75BZ929/0051_831-640x427.jpeg Enemy Kitchen After eight weeks of learning how to cook Iraqi food, the students at Hudson Guild Community Center proposed to teach me something about their own families’ recipes, since they now knew so much about mine. One student, Hyasheem, asked, “Do Iraqis make Southern fried chicken?” I answered that no, to my knowledge there was nothing like it in Iraqi cuisine. “Well, then let’s invent it,” he said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160734-LC5SMTYEMEYSW77CP0RJ/0009_5b1-427x640.jpeg Enemy Kitchen Hyasheem (pictured) led the way and we cooked the chicken according to his specifications, using a shake-n-bake technique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871159910-76A6SRONSU19UO0CNVYK/0007_511-580x408.jpeg Enemy Kitchen Cooking and eating a meal of amba salad, kubba, and debes wa’ rashi with students from Saratoga High School at Villa Montalvo at the Montalvo Arts Center in California. One student, named Connie Sheng, said “One day, it would be nice to know what it feels like to proud of my country.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160023-DKVD0NJC5347SGFJQ8VV/0008_6b1-580x409.jpeg Enemy Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871166620-9W6CKRZMPPXP2L9VFASX/em01.jpg Enemy Kitchen Enemy Kitchen barbecue at The National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum on Memorial Day, 2009. Together with members of the Chicago chapters of Iraq Veterans Against The War (IVAW) and Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW), we cooked Iraqi kofta on the grill instead of traditional hot dogs and hamburgers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871164925-Z2ZZRUFTU0I2ILZ1B9XP/em-02.jpg Enemy Kitchen Enemy Kitchen staff, comprised of Iraqi refugees and American veterans of the Iraq War, outside of Milo’s Pita Place, an Iraqi restaurant in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood that operates the truck. Most Iraqi restaurants in the city call themselves Middle Eastern or Mediterranean to protect themselves from jingoistic attacks. Enemy Kitchen is the city's first Iraqi restaurant to publicly declare itself as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871164477-CTC3ZE73OA7KLM6LF756/em-03.jpg Enemy Kitchen Detail of paper plate replicas of Saddam Hussein's dishes on which food is served from the Enemy Kitchen food truck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871165523-1VA9YEHEPK39ZO17EA61/em-04.jpg Enemy Kitchen Enemy Kitchen is now a fully functional food truck on the streets of Chicago that features Iraqi refugee cooks and US veterans of the Iraq War serving as sous chefs. In this way, the power dynamic in Iraq is inverted, as Americans now take orders from the Iraqis. The truck features the Chicago flag, rendered in Iraqi colors and serves food on paper replicas of the plates looted from Saddam Hussein's palaces in 2003. (add to new image - slide 93) The truck has made visible and audible the people on both sides of the war, as dialogue accompanies the serving and consumption of food, and the truck creates a critical social space. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-invisible-enemy-should-not-exist daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790696133-9MI55AT9BKC39WKTLE9E/two.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist Iraq Museum Number: IM19754 Statue; male, bearded, long hair, bare-chested, wearing flounced skirt, hands folded; eyes inlaid with shell, hair painted with bitumen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1a8f3128-6408-4d6a-8b5e-7d97da6fa212/015_RHG_MR_high-res.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist Chair back White ivory relief, from Nimrud, Assyrian period https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790691777-ZOJ5YQL4JLQJCGG63N20/IMG_1145.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/5eca4d5e-57f5-4584-aeef-8d768f1f9d8b/im41012-witg+oi.png The invisible enemy should not exist Museum Number: IM41012 Headless standing female figure https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/009a372b-7f8e-49a8-936b-ddf2658649f5/IM52560+.png The invisible enemy should not exist IM52560 One of two terracotta lions found at the gate of the Dagan temple in Tell Harmal (ancient Shaduppum). Molded clay, interior hollow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597616424737-O14Z2CGGNFKOMDIROJ81/aa_2016_07_02_MR_TheInvisibleEnemy_Table-2_NickAsh_4_s.jpg%2C1000.jpeg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894010264-BW1SR519T48169DIHKJT/MR_installation11+copy.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790695959-NVH2TYYFFB3TEGW0VSJO/MR_2009_21+enemy_tablette.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/d4855cae-b22e-49f5-bc3d-ce10a138cdcc/IM45434.png The invisible enemy should not exist IM45434 Statue head; eyes originally inlaid; borings on top and reverse to attach hair piece https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894401723-JSDESQZDF7CP371RA4JO/MR_installation4+copy.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894386289-YTQ0WLH98J4ULFTUONY5/MR_HeadlessFemaleMaleRelief+copy.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/7b70af22-801c-46a1-853d-ab1235ec3204/IM74846.png The invisible enemy should not exist IM74846 Front of winged, ram-headed sphinx facing left; wears a headcloth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790695252-5JUBREGDI51IOFP4S7WJ/invisible05.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894119920-03S5AJHP9QB51F5CHRSU/MR_2007_Plate+with+Geometric+Design+%28IM14733%29+copy.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist Iraq Museum number: IM14733 Plate: polychrome painting (red, black), elaborate 'wave' decoration along side, cross-element in center; Halaf period https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/a541a9f3-9106-43aa-902f-2d0e551012f1/%5B94%5D+.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist Fragment of standing male figure; head and body above waist as well as legs and feet missing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848821255-FCPXHGN7ZEKKGKRESRQQ/562599f482a8265cdde8005819a94c7c.jpeg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848914690-3CPU7ZATKT7140NCZ1OC/ab52deb170c9401eb039dd33ca68b818.jpeg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/6bb1b3f7-f907-4530-974e-40f250601fac/079_high-res.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/a361812d-9b1f-40d0-8f17-7b95ca261bdf/027_RHG_MR_high-res.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/3cd3ae2a-e73a-460d-91f5-3ef891e5b091/Kh.+III+1009.png The invisible enemy should not exist Excavation Number: Kh. III 1009 Right edge of votive plaque with two registers of relief decoration preserved; upper one shows legs of seated person with fringed skirt (obviously part of banquet scene); lower one shows attendant with conical cup facing large (wine?) jar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/87d0addc-32d4-47b4-b695-6201ca2e1527/MR_TheInvisibleEnemy-SeatedNudeMaleFigure_2018_FellbachTriennale2019_FotoPeterHartung_01+IM77823.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/b0a355e3-1b71-4dcb-9a53-767bd154e8ce/54.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/37e364d6-bb04-4017-86dd-21761739e8dc/kh-354.png The invisible enemy should not exist Kh. IV 354 Headless seated man and woman, the man's right arm being around the woman's shoulder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/9fc28a2a-26d7-42f4-bb20-b284b61df2e4/0V5A2196+copy.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist Kh. IV 445 Male head http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/spoils daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870661846-1N5035KLVPA3ORWUU1JC/spoils_01.jpg Spoils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870660922-5QUUVKQHGRSU8NFOLHOE/spoils_02.jpg Spoils The plates were purchased on eBay from two different sources: an active American soldier serving in the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division—the same unit that captured Saddam Hussein—and an Iraqi refugee now living in Michigan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870664114-TQ0A0DL6T9VC6U7W6C76/spoils_03.jpg Spoils The dishware was looted from Saddam’s palaces after they were destroyed by Coalition Forces. Personal household items such as plates and silverware were taken by Iraqi citizens, many of whom used them in their own homes—a dispersal of power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870663349-YBV2ODSIABH1OSIBG6NK/spoils_04.jpg Spoils Rare pieces of Wedgewood china once owned by King Faisal II were also acquired for the project. The plates were looted from the Iraqi monarch’s palaces following his execution in 1958, but were found among Saddam’s own dishware in 2003. It has been reported that Hussein was so obsessed by the young King’s short life and violent demise that he would make secret visits to his tomb, often asking guards to open the grave so he could gaze upon the monarch’s remains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870665426-GBEHOZM293HPNONHXS0L/spoils_05.jpg Spoils https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870664754-JEWZ8BFSXXNXOTVCF4LQ/spoils_06.jpg Spoils A US Marshal from the Asset Forfeiture Unit inspects Saddam’s dishes at Creative Time’s offices in New York City following the issuance of a Cease and Desist letter demanding the “surrender of the Iraqi plates to the U.S. Attorney's office, Southern District of New York” and thus the discontinuation of Spoils. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870666600-AD89H6I63BEOZQSXN90R/spoils08.jpg Spoils Video still of Saddam Hussein's dishes being repatriated to the Republic of Iraq at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and at the behest of US President Barack Obama during their meeting in Washington, D.C. on December 11, 2011 to finalize plans for American withdrawal from Iraq and transfer of sovereignty to take effect four days later. The plates traveled back to Baghdad on the same flight as the Iraqi Prime Minister. They will go on display in Saddam's palaces, which will be transformed into museums. Reports on the project's conclusion accompanied reports on the end of the Iraq War by various news outlets, including The New York Times, The Rachel Maddow Show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870684616-YW8TN43DRW4ZKSPB6WJ3/spoils_09.jpg Spoils Spoils appeared on the front page of The New York Times’ coverage of the end of the Iraq War on December 15, 2011. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/geniza-for-ostia daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873059607-F86ZO284A0DU6XLJYBOU/EL_041613_027.jpg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873152535-LOWUWMYMZTISK0KATLJ6/image-asset.jpeg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873058620-D2AAJPXBQKRVBWYYXHVE/geniza_03.jpg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873065527-GPK311DB1OQO99M61OXW/geniza_04.jpg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873074645-4SV5LM4S7CQO7X6FJ8MS/geniza_06.jpg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873313745-V95GAEX8GU1K8Y1WYARQ/geniza_07.jpg Geniza for Ostia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873083555-4KQ9QLBY0OE5SGATLG1X/geniza_08.jpg Geniza for Ostia Broken Kiddush cup, Baghdad, Iraq, ca. 19th century https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873093045-176DAVTQQEKZH5AHZXKN/geniza_010.jpg Geniza for Ostia The preservationist struggles with what is to be remembered or saved and what is to be discarded or laid to rest. At the invitation of Arte In Memoria, buried my archive on the grounds of the Ostia synagogue. The site is marked simply by the planting of an Iraqi barhi date palm, which draws its nutrients from the soil of the decaying parchment and papers interred below. It is a way of saying farewell to the things that need to rest, which is the hardest thing to do when trying to stay alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873100606-CGH4B8GP3M1YUH7IQMHQ/geniza_011.jpg Geniza for Ostia http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/return daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869656157-K4C3O5LJBTL7GNZRK1I4/0047_231-640x466.jpeg RETURN My grandfather Nissim Isaac David and family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869660611-GK8MZNKL7GKW1GDTCES6/0057_4a1-640x360.jpeg RETURN Davisons & Co, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869663029-TSLFCY6HTS0YIVPC7QLA/0065_601-427x640.jpeg RETURN Dropbox https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869657781-XQ6TRS8FFK1RP7K9EROK/0045_b91-640x481.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869654527-AGPUDL57RHCDS6KX69R9/0025_c82-489x640.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869655622-RAT7H9DIMZSQ5B00Y348/0034_a71-640x480.jpeg RETURN In the store I displayed pictures of the harvest, which Al Farez sent me. The dates were packed and ready to ship via Jordan in early October. They traveled by truck along the most dangerous road in the country, then waited in a line of cars at the Jordanian border that was reported to be four days long, as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis tried to flee the worsening sectarian violence. After sending the truck back to Baghdad for a radiation certificate, the Jordanians finally refused the cargo as a security concern. The exhausted truck driver then headed north to Syria and dropped off the dates at the airport in Damascus, where they were to get on a plane to Egypt, then onward to the US. The shipment was held there for a week, and was by then so blistered from three hot weeks in a truck that Al Farez deemed it unacceptable for export. So the shipment died in Syria. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869654953-WN46XPONFIQURNCEAT2Y/0033_a61-640x480.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869657196-R1CQRKA9BMTVPN3R5F00/0055_341-640x360.jpeg RETURN Meanwhile, the store opened, empty of Iraqi dates for the time being, but selling four California varieties derived from Iraqi seed. All along, the story of the dates and daily updates were communicated to customers frequenting the store. The dates suddenly became a surrogate, traveling the same path as Iraqi refugees. The store became a place where that crisis and its affiliated narrative was being disseminated—hardly the exchange a customer would expect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869656590-73QLLTCASQYNU8P2E6OM/0054_c91-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869667514-MDPWZGVN6YKBPD5ZJIY8/0096_af1-640x360.jpeg RETURN Customer reactions were as layered as my gesture of opening the store. Many, like Shamoon Salih (left), an Iraqi Jew who left in 1960, spoke from the position of nostalgia and memory, which always seemed to be a window into the pain or the trauma of having to leave Iraq, or being unable to return in the current context. Others came in to speak about possible business ventures, like Ibrahim, from Kurdistan, and Omar, from Egypt, who wanted to export white American paint to Iraq, where it was a much sought after commodity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869660980-ZG064TZ9V07AOQ929KU5/0058_a61-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869659655-28R8IB2SXLEFZ2NBBSMY/0056_881-640x360.jpeg RETURN Another kind of customer interaction occurred when Hana Ali and her family came to the store to ship boxes of household items and toys to their relatives in Diwanya, where a cousin had just been killed by insurgents. When an American couple walked in, Hana immediately asked them what they thought of the news, then current, that Hussein had been sentenced to death. A discussion ensued that lasted over an hour. There were many, many other such interactions, and thus the project began to function as a community space and social network where I receded and customers reacted to each other, the possibility of their meeting facilitated and choreographed through the appearance of this strange store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869661601-OAHBG4L4Q5VNPWACGMKG/0059_4d1-640x360.jpeg RETURN After the initial shipment of dates met their untimely end, Al-Farez remained determined to stock my store, arranging for 10 boxes to be airlifted out of Baghdad direct to New York City via DHL. For three weeks the small parcel underwent inspection by Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Patrol, the USFDA and the USDA. At one point a US Customs agent determined that the shipment was illegal since we were “at war with Iraq.” Finally the dates reached the store and customers flocked, eager to try the fruit that had now interrogated and scandalized every government agency from Baghdad to Damascus to New York. A fruit that asked questions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869665289-61APRGHX7JBKVSUB76UN/0092_691-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869666697-SMU9FQTPRO8VLPZUVRPB/0095_ad1-640x360.jpeg RETURN Shamoon returned, for a taste of what he called thikra, which means memory or nostalgia. “It’s for when you are homesick, when you miss your home,” he said. He slowly put his first date in his mouth, closed his eyes, smiled, and softly said, “this is 46 years in the making.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869663188-4FQ75F2ORDX695JTXWX9/0091_891-640x360.jpeg RETURN When I told Al Farez how happy the customers were to finally receive the dates, they asked me to take pictures of those who had bought them. Here are a few of the many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869665424-IQ2UGWEORX6ELYN86OA1/0093_fc1-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869666605-NL02P5A2FQNB8N4QX8AP/0094_b01-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869667526-PJHQ737UKX0D7JJMOBWG/0097_fe1-640x360.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869655295-5LIGGW8RBNPP3KN11NJW/0003_3d1-432x243.jpeg RETURN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869670398-OQXRZDQ5C8GVKZRZYU2A/0098_4f1-640x360.jpeg RETURN http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/climate-control daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878504242-ZPYKPSXF92HCA7AG9WBV/0099_851-640x472.jpg Climate Control Most museums and exhibition spaces have a central climate control system for maintaining the standard temperature and relative humidity (r.h.) necessary to preserve art works on exhibit. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center lacks such a mechanism and, during the winter, turns its radiators up to 90˚ F, ignoring the institutional standard of 68˚ - 72˚ F. The dry heat of the radiators engenders a relative humidity reading of approximately 11%, potentially damaging to objects like paintings or prints, which require stabilized environments of between 40% - 50% r.h. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878503000-58FZQIN57961J9IJ2KYJ/0073_c41-640x432.jpg Climate Control In order to lower the temperature of the Special Projects room to which it is confined, Climate Control , an apparatus consisting of ductwork and fans, incorporates the existing radiator system on the interior of the building with the cold winter temperature outside. The resulting maze of ductwork features a central absurd element: the continuous duct which travels outside the windows and then directly back in, visible from the street. An internal humidifier feeds off moisture in the air and maintains a relative humidity of 20%, in keeping with the standard for exhibiting artworks made from galvanized steel. While the system is adjustable and can maintain a stabilized environment for the display of even delicate works on paper, there is no space to exhibit other art: Climate Control completely engulfs the room. The result is an absurd machine built to maintain itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878503278-L25YNN2F8Z84O3VE3VPP/0066_271-640x480.jpg Climate Control http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/radio-silence daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597412049541-7WT8OR845DTSFQNTQ18X/2016-033+Radio+Silence-15.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411811448-EJQEAN33JVEG3LJN2BHU/2016-033+Radio+Silence-82.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411803488-CQG7K0BYOJL3KBL8UXW9/2016-033+Radio+Silence-136.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411808603-30DU10VASBK9GWRDV9CR/2016-033+Radio+Silence-110.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415090605-VSHXYNFVB9GSX7DWWRC6/2016-033+Radio+Silence-88.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411803210-9F93F635H1JA4ZKGBBVP/2016-033+Radio+Silence-123.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415093428-CLKFTT37U451X1YJ6XWX/2016-033+Radio+Silence-115.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415098423-0ECKRM22XAESMYI9SOCX/2016-033+Radio+Silence-47.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415101419-FMRGVB6EYX1LQGA99QZ2/2016-033+Radio+Silence-71.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415104408-DW9JZCHAF3AXA1I431AC/2016-033+Radio+Silence-133.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411814385-B5SYLS5QVV3IZ7XTI237/2016-033+Radio+Silence-81.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411815627-UQK6S9RPQKBQK5B30NZ1/2016-033+Radio+Silence-14.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415095998-D19DKWNPPWVS9X8BFK01/2016-033+Radio+Silence-44.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411797055-NPWHX89R40XUKBPC889S/2016-033+Radio+Silence-143.jpg Radio Silence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597412096063-2V0GRAHA0FVYI0S7MYF8/2016-033+Radio+Silence-39.jpg Radio Silence http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-invisible-enemy-should-not-exist-lamassu-of-nineveh daily 0.75 2026-02-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1770831950349-L8JVNTI9GL1E6UJX6L21/20181118_083422.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453887249-HOSUXVR9WJJ5LG9TPRYI/6Rakowitz_Fourth_Plinth_Proposal_Page_1.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597563212167-V62GWF6RIB4QWI6ZMEND/Untitled-1.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) Iraqi dates were once considered the best in the world and constituted the country’s second largest export after oil. In the late 1970s, the Iraqi date industry listed over 30 million date palms in the country. By the end of the 2003 Iraq War, only 3 million remained. To circumvent the 1990 U.N. embargo and reach a Western market, Iraqi manufacturers shipped date syrup to Syria to be packed in unmarked cans. The cans then went to Lebanon, where they received a label identifying them as “Product of Lebanon” and were exported worldwide as a veiled commodity. Today, post-sanctions, only one brand among dozens lists Iraq as its country of origin due to the exorbitant security-related charges levied by U.S. government agencies on imports indicating Iraqi origin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597454377886-TU4LWXAA7F5K0JKVHC2X/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+8.18.57+PM.png The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597454068438-IBTGKAGRKS2ZPHREZZS7/Fourth+Plinth0040.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) Lamassu maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562579116-IVLAE86FENJO5QC6PGTH/IMG_9901.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562607236-E46IKKY8TWTK8TKN6Z8P/20181118_083359.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453753084-XJUWG80W3V3A1VDSFCAI/_MGS7516.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) Lamassu unveiling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562633849-XZZVC9QWJ5RCCVV7OPXX/4thPlinth2018_MichaelRakowitz_034+%281%29.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453786558-TX4VO45QSH7D83UR86L9/IMG_9891.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597563344797-0M4SHAA5MVF5BGFN5TXE/20181118_083122.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh) http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-flesh-is-yours-the-bones-are-ours daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415857614-ZAQMEL2CZW8WZB78N8L3/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_156.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416549424-USCWNY0RW7RLOFTNZWKO/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_119.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416713049-Q4E8QZ6VY1HTU30S1HZE/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_074.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416524341-B3D40D1XFQGAET0Y0GG3/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_003.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416522709-WV3EVYTG2GIIW1E3CPNZ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_001.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416530116-DUNIUGG964K4OSS1ZGBR/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_037.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416532122-TRZE30OG4RS1K76XV64V/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_042.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416535452-0PJ8WST58P2AWKW6OUIU/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_043.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416538853-XSGRF9WKKJTC9NM32CYF/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_060.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418174532-7T85LTKMFEKU3ITD3SNK/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_149.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418248111-W2XL1AV90BGZYQFIZ4AV/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_129.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416543440-C1SHM547EYFP9SLH6ITR/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_114.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418166760-6A1QR31XDHBQTJ3TXHP2/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_112.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417017392-SKEPWGIETPIJTL280KFM/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_073.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417022181-CV9KOHS4HHTA7ST62DEZ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_081.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417024999-UUMBEE4I2SX5L2TCCHLQ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_111.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416546368-ZARTVDH8XWJU460OBA3E/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_117.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/nimrud daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458331439-J9FVI2MHBIMGO8DBD76N/6_OI+Museum_Rakowitz_credit+Michael+Tropea.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Panel G-13 with existing fragment from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761673767993-5FWKNWFM9XTW9HGW7ELD/MichaelRakowitz_TheInvisibleEnemyShouldNotExist_05_LO.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room L at Stavanger Museum, Norway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761850349043-MJ7GFFXFSPMJ0KAUOV13/019_BOB00179_high-res+copy.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Detail of L-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848411767-WE099X9OZCTCGGPX5FOJ/Michael+Rakowitz_installation+view+%289%29.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room S and F installation at Barakat Gallery, Seoul https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/156fe6a2-a7cc-46f9-8f96-f949d04b712e/035.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) S-19 Panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848315909-054JAF2I3WD021B7PUON/Michael+Rakowitz_installation+view+%283%29.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room S installation at Barakat Gallery, Seoul https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/418086a3-ab30-4efa-b8cb-d3636c6fb3b0/_DSC1561+1.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) F-10 Panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458040689-AJLX60T7XBJN656F948J/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+9.20.07+PM.png The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room F at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c9112b2e-b569-47c9-977f-1c5a8914f397/room+c+details.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Cb-1 and Cb-3 details https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/54955920-f180-4ed5-b381-d01fa351fe91/Room+C+intallation+at+Pi+Gallery+.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room C installation at Pi Artworks Gallery, Istanbul https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/82de0f90-ea37-4024-8b8d-25a82170cf96/room+h-+panel.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) H-3 Panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1608241555002-4GPROOH7A2YZKDXQBD2Z/IMG_8760.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room H installation at Wellin Museum of Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/0e603932-f70c-4a81-b7cb-3e8084e24895/H+panel.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) H-19 detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1608241650941-HY5HSL5BIWGI6CXBI61L/02-20-20_Michael-Rakowitz_001.JPG The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) H-13 Panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/b4344b4a-da20-428d-bcb3-9be581879946/room+G+Malmo.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room G installation at Malmö Konsthall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/dc202555-1193-4d1f-aec6-c2ef776e09e7/room+G+roww.png The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room G panels and drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597614365423-KYDS0F3TTOVABTUVDOHH/Screen+Shot+2020-08-16+at+4.45.35+PM.png The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room Z at Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597614292490-5SM7GNGPXXIRML025DEV/Screen+Shot+2020-08-16+at+4.44.26+PM.png The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Z-4 and Z-5 panels https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458175276-NWR838HBQM0QT0QJFN56/280675_a53c4c151db9498a3d8c6d1668a46b41.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Room N, Panel N-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458103927-IJB3C7LTMPG5DAUA02CM/nwpalace_fulltn.jpg The invisible enemy should not exist (Northwest Palace of Nimrud) Floorplan of the Northwest Palace of Nimrud http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-ballad-of-special-ops-cody daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/48b23780-1de9-454a-aea4-c6ac9a25e093/SO_Cody_2.jpg The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421099601-R2YHFR3A1QWUS07P5VXG/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.12.36+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597617677944-KI23N0SHD980H1F47226/image-asset.jpeg The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421092791-FZMAQTR781S9100B5INR/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.11.09+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421093433-1ZA7JS0OONMR3FQKVF9I/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.11.28+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421073844-SVB9PIVJ7QRH5TL58C95/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.10.35+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421049881-B8D8D3VNXJYUX8JDATUY/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.08.55+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421046809-CL6LBT88MOA3D6XKFABW/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.09.29+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421064737-176IQ7PKX7T6K88JTWEL/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.09.48+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/im-good-at-love-im-good-at-hate-its-in-between-i-freeze daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420451758-8EQXF4C65F2G1MQNQKG0/Michael-Rakowitz_010.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420449445-BXUF8QZD4NAPFT3LFV3W/Michael-Rakowitz_009.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420454689-MMKG8HPIQPL630D3JP6M/Michael-Rakowitz_015.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420455948-UC1B2W88FEAY3CWTZQWN/Michael-Rakowitz_016.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420428515-P7S35PBAXAHLKGCMC1LX/Michael-Rakowitz_008.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420445070-0EMBDSEBFGR354959Y4I/Michael-Rakowitz_004.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420441943-945ZVBNQHXFPM4GO3EBG/Michael-Rakowitz_001.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420444149-S15KL480PLXYJ31U73DG/Michael-Rakowitz_002.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597419495789-E9S2URPO3MA7CFXHM0OI/Michael-Rakowitz_014.JPG I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between I freeze http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/imperfect-binding daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422626354-9WUXUB83QJVQOT2HUPIY/Cerruti_Proposal_MR_test.jpg Imperfect Binding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422253653-2SHPD5486Y2C2ZA0R0O1/Screen+Shot+2020-08-12+at+7.46.03+PM.png Imperfect Binding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597633488777-PBTQMA7MTTSVZIHEL9Y6/_DSC2800.JPG Imperfect Binding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597633483225-Q4ZT5V1N485E596ITKWM/_DSC2799.JPG Imperfect Binding http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/a-house-with-a-date-palm-will-never-starve daily 0.75 2026-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422060866-M2BVK9CCLH5LLZ5BER7G/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.19.34+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422067519-1UVLBAS91LQ32IEEMOGE/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.19.48+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422078380-RH9REM8O20MCFI8JF8X7/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.41+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422082118-Y6QEUGLXK1Q1T5NL70LR/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.32+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422085948-ONEKSO05V9O0D3BNAUZZ/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.22+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422092006-9PXC7TRHEJNAKN007CJ0/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.14+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/may-the-obdurate-foe-not-be-in-good-health daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455297990-GGZB6VQUBI62OF7748O1/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_015.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455292247-8OH1015Y12T21PBYV44F/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_012.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455301895-0NPXIM0MHZDFJMN5L7B6/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_014.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455811523-GJ60FLF448SKXYEHBA4E/unnamed-2.png May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761672000405-4LOL9EDVM8D1VHZ3O28N/28.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761672290488-XR0HWEC5AERY2HN3YNFG/24.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455309641-BCKBUOZXGR0R9XXAJIVA/RakowitzMichael_20170918_127.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455317232-1MRYMG7XQQYXTOUBV34D/RakowitzMichael_20170918_126.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455895985-GBN90E7VN0AH5EM92PEZ/Untitled_50.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761672430532-JBYLJ7JGHT5SO40BEGUY/5.jpg May the obdurate foe not be in good health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455778117-B66G399DPHARNRXST0O9/unnamed-3.png May the obdurate foe not be in good health http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/for-us-the-living daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418638740-HCVJLG0NQPJUN6KNSS5X/MoMA_For_us_the_living__021+%281%29.jpg For us, the living https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418672997-GPULE9PP3ZEJJF9U78AK/MoMA_For_us_the_living__026.jpg For us, the living https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418606656-I94RQWTEXW91LEDC2WJZ/MoMA_For_us_the_living__016.jpg For us, the living https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418580223-T9KVO0KR65QIT4LRZ4WB/MoMA_For_us_the_living__031.jpg For us, the living http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/downloads daily 0.75 2026-02-23 http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/read-me-wells daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f9adbe124ac5df956fdf900/1377532324708-EROF9ACEN1S3PQS09EBO/J+O+S+E+G+O+N+Z+A+L+E+Z+%2820130826%29.jpg Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f9adbe124ac5df956fdf900/1377532278651-FL68CC4FNDMRUASHC4I7/Screen+Shot+2013-08-26+at+11.50.45+AM.jpg Read Me http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-breakup-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869029090-SH0CUKL0DF1RC16JYE6G/breakup_01.jpg The Breakup gallery Working from a complete set of the 150-hour audio tapes generated during the shooting of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s documentary Let It Be, I created a series of cascading narratives of the rise and fall of The Beatles, pinpointing the precise moment when alienation and isolation gave way to collapse, amid marathon meetings, wheedlings, rehearsals, and conflicts. There were, clearly, allegorical echoes between that collapse and the breakdown of political negotiations in Israel, Palestine, and across a Middle East that once dreamed of uniting under the banner of Pan-Arabism. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869032509-1Q0H9SX2X280A7AA2D8M/breakup_02.jpg The Breakup gallery But there was, oddly, a more direct connection: those 1969 rehearsals were supposed to lead to their first live performance in three years, and Paul McCartney’s dream was for The Beatles to make their triumphant return with a concert in North Africa—amphitheaters in El Jem, Tunisia and Sabratha, Libya were booked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869029844-439ROOQX6YBLZ0W81LCM/breakup_03.jpg The Breakup gallery The band ultimately reached an impasse; Ringo and George vetoed the final proposal. The epic concert in the “exotic location” would not materialize, and the compromise was a short and sweet and pathetic rooftop concert one chilly afternoon in London. Disembodied but familiar voices wafted over pedestrians in the street, broadcasted from the same height as church bells or minarets: one final call to prayer for the fanatics down below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869039726-ODQ1DFXGK4X1DLUOCGZ9/breakup_04.jpg The Breakup gallery The Breakup culminated in a recreation of that final concert, three decades later, against the backdrop of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. Members of the celebrated Palestinian band Sabreen—who met at university in the early 1980s and began their career playing Beatles songs at wedding parties, and who had broken up in 2002—came together to perform five Arabic-inflected Beatles songs on the roof of the Swedish Christian Study Centre in Jerusalem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869041303-INC874I367TKE5WPTGWK/breakup_05.jpg The Breakup gallery The songs were selected and ordered to form a kind of poem about collaboration and collapse, and about dreams that cannot be deferred indefinitely. TWO OF US THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD DON’T LET ME DOWN GET BACK LET IT BE https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869042085-9MZFDXRAHYZE01STHE6Y/breakup_06.png The Breakup gallery Live in Jerusalem 2010 is a deluxe gatefold vinyl LP recording of Sabreen's concert published by Bidoun. The cover concept for refers to Live Peace in Toronto 1969, an album documenting a September 13, 1969 performance by the Plastic Ono Band at Varsity Stadium, Toronto. For the cover of Live Peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began with Blue, a painting by Yves Klein. The work depicts a sky of pure, sparkling azure; John and Yoko introduced via photo collage the image of a single cloud. “By us putting a cloud there,” Ono said, “it suddenly became the real sky—and the real world—as opposed to perfection.” Live in Jerusalem takes the same Klein painting, collaged now with a photographic image of the aerial bombardment of Gaza in January 2009, correcting the utopic perfection proposed in John and Yoko’s gesture by imposing a darker cloud upon Klein’s idealized sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869042388-JY5F5I74XFDKUB78PT8P/breakup_07.jpg The Breakup gallery The Breakup was also a multi-facted multimedia event at Lombard Freid Gallery, New York, September 6–October 17, 2012, featuring drawings, memorabilia real and imagined, and radio broadcasts, as well as the limited edition release of Live in Jerusalem 2010. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869052938-VAIAVYGS2X02FRXI6CAK/breakup_08.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869045650-8ISCAERW1W1FIAGK347E/breakup_010.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869077518-H39P7BKXKXD06D44NMRA/MR_TheBreakupInstall_1.jpg The Breakup gallery Referring to the uniforms and medals worn by The Beatles on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band—their seminal 1967 album, released just days before the start of the Six Day War—four shadow boxes upholstered in the same colored satin display the military awards issued by Middle Eastern countries from 1948-1973. Handwritten notations on the glass frame attempts to draw comparisons between John, Paul, George and Ringo to Egypt, Syria, Israel and Jordan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869049729-MUA43THRXISNFHO2B6BS/breakup_011.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869051833-KPXXGG0U22JOKPYCWATH/breakup_012.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869059087-EQS9YK34WF4Z0NN5KXYH/breakup_013.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869063214-JG1YXPRTTXXQH0ZLTYLK/breakup_014.jpg The Breakup gallery Fastasy items, from unreleased Beatles albums to proposed Palestinian currency are presented in a vitrine with handwritten captions on glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869062506-3BE6I78QJ86D8CQ5Y3RS/breakup_015.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869071475-XTGCAAHXULA72O3Q3O1K/breakup_016.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869071222-T1OVS2XVFKGKG28TT4ZG/breakup_017.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869072422-XVDTB1B1JZJN7Y0UJOZG/MR_Inshallah+at+Sabratha_03.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869074953-R6BOLAZ84QV8A6RVH95Y/MR_Study+for+The+Breakup_Fantasy+Objects+%28detail%29_02.JPG The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869076177-JZY9X2HOEMPUJ2JH5SMN/MR_Study+for+The+Breakup_The+Summer+of+Setback+%28detail%29_06.JPG The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869081223-M8XU08GLWXGESPSIERLC/MR_Study_FantasyObjects.jpg The Breakup gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869078411-F0K01JV71JI1VAW0A66I/splash-B34EA5FA-FBC4-11E1-8AC5-5B6802A3A79E.jpg The Breakup gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/a-house-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422060866-M2BVK9CCLH5LLZ5BER7G/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.19.34+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422067519-1UVLBAS91LQ32IEEMOGE/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.19.48+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422078380-RH9REM8O20MCFI8JF8X7/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.41+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422082118-Y6QEUGLXK1Q1T5NL70LR/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.32+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422085948-ONEKSO05V9O0D3BNAUZZ/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.22+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422092006-9PXC7TRHEJNAKN007CJ0/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.20.14+AM.png A house with a date palm will never starve gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/rise-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086048-ORYRJH22LCOKFHZDJVPW/0002_da1-405x600.jpeg Rise gallery In August 2001, TriBeach Holdings, LLC, opened floors six through eleven of 129 Lafayette Street in Manhattan as the site for a temporary exhibition. Curators were each given a floor of the building with which to work. The exhibition, entitled GZ:01, was staged to raise visibility of this vacant building for real estate purposes. Formerly functioning as a large, multi-story community center and business network for the local Chinese community, 129 Lafayette Street was regarded as a prime location for extending SoHo’s gallery scene into a new area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086907-SN2XARY0NOWY6RAE4432/0070_0f1-640x421.jpeg Rise gallery Fei Dar Bakery is located on the ground floor of an adjacent two-story building at 191 Centre Street. The bakery is one of the most popular Chinese pastry shops and also functions as a meeting place for many young Chinese neighborhood residents.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086031-H24TP7CICVXMU0OOY9WS/0049_a41-440x660.jpeg Rise gallery For the opening reception of the exhibition, Fei Dar Bakery provided pastries so gallery-goers could taste what they were smelling. Throughout the duration of the show, Fei Dar received a steady flow of customers who had visited the gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086651-BCKHYU8FXKEDZS861185/0061_711-356x700.jpeg Rise gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878087145-E6OFT7OK32JLC764C77P/0077_8e1-426x650.jpeg Rise gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/plot-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788243966-YNZ4CAAB0EHSC6E3MYD4/0036_701-640x480.jpg (p)LOT gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788244424-4UCKO2U8O7WYU5YW87P8/0060_ed1-640x481.jpg (p)LOT gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788244680-UC31V3Y0R1G6USNXKDSU/0081_561-640x427.jpg (p)LOT gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435788245080-6UDGOC4MUNP49AQKCT71/0082_d11-640x427.jpg (p)LOT gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/imperfect-binding-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422626354-9WUXUB83QJVQOT2HUPIY/Cerruti_Proposal_MR_test.jpg Imperfect binding gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597422253653-2SHPD5486Y2C2ZA0R0O1/Screen+Shot+2020-08-12+at+7.46.03+PM.png Imperfect binding gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597633488777-PBTQMA7MTTSVZIHEL9Y6/_DSC2800.JPG Imperfect binding gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597633483225-Q4ZT5V1N485E596ITKWM/_DSC2799.JPG Imperfect binding gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/romanticized-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441125-BQHVO9AS9SR4EZ1T097N/0071_501-640x480.jpeg Romanticized gallery Film selections were made by visitors to the Panorama who responded to a survey that asked them to recall a specific scene from a movie they felt illustrated their experience, attitude, or expectations of New York City. The first seven scene selections were presented from August to December, 2002; the second from January to June, 2003. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441705-1O4MQMGU5P8BF8Q50N9B/0080_a81-640x427.jpeg Romanticized gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877440292-7ZDUUQVUW6A2Y3Z1PVQR/0062_0a1-640x158.png Romanticized gallery Next to each screen was a label showing a still from the real movie, while on the LCD screen appeared a live feed from the Panorama of the scene in question. Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1977) and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) were among the common cinematic references. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441491-RJHWTG7KLDS1Z9UFVYRL/0063_7b1-640x177.png Romanticized gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/return-gallery daily 0.75 2026-02-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869656157-K4C3O5LJBTL7GNZRK1I4/0047_231-640x466.jpeg Return gallery My grandfather Nissim Isaac David and family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869660611-GK8MZNKL7GKW1GDTCES6/0057_4a1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery Davisons & Co, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869663029-TSLFCY6HTS0YIVPC7QLA/0065_601-427x640.jpeg Return gallery Dropbox https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869657781-XQ6TRS8FFK1RP7K9EROK/0045_b91-640x481.jpeg Return gallery   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869654527-AGPUDL57RHCDS6KX69R9/0025_c82-489x640.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869655622-RAT7H9DIMZSQ5B00Y348/0034_a71-640x480.jpeg Return gallery In the store I displayed pictures of the harvest, which Al Farez sent me. The dates were packed and ready to ship via Jordan in early October. They traveled by truck along the most dangerous road in the country, then waited in a line of cars at the Jordanian border that was reported to be four days long, as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis tried to flee the worsening sectarian violence. After sending the truck back to Baghdad for a radiation certificate, the Jordanians finally refused the cargo as a security concern. The exhausted truck driver then headed north to Syria and dropped off the dates at the airport in Damascus, where they were to get on a plane to Egypt, then onward to the US. The shipment was held there for a week, and was by then so blistered from three hot weeks in a truck that Al Farez deemed it unacceptable for export. So the shipment died in Syria. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869654953-WN46XPONFIQURNCEAT2Y/0033_a61-640x480.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869657196-R1CQRKA9BMTVPN3R5F00/0055_341-640x360.jpeg Return gallery Meanwhile, the store opened, empty of Iraqi dates for the time being, but selling four California varieties derived from Iraqi seed. All along, the story of the dates and daily updates were communicated to customers frequenting the store. The dates suddenly became a surrogate, traveling the same path as Iraqi refugees. The store became a place where that crisis and its affiliated narrative was being disseminated—hardly the exchange a customer would expect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869656590-73QLLTCASQYNU8P2E6OM/0054_c91-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869667514-MDPWZGVN6YKBPD5ZJIY8/0096_af1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery Customer reactions were as layered as my gesture of opening the store. Many, like Shamoon Salih (left), an Iraqi Jew who left in 1960, spoke from the position of nostalgia and memory, which always seemed to be a window into the pain or the trauma of having to leave Iraq, or being unable to return in the current context. Others came in to speak about possible business ventures, like Ibrahim, from Kurdistan, and Omar, from Egypt, who wanted to export white American paint to Iraq, where it was a much sought after commodity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869660980-ZG064TZ9V07AOQ929KU5/0058_a61-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869659655-28R8IB2SXLEFZ2NBBSMY/0056_881-640x360.jpeg Return gallery Another kind of customer interaction occurred when Hana Ali and her family came to the store to ship boxes of household items and toys to their relatives in Diwanya, where a cousin had just been killed by insurgents. When an American couple walked in, Hana immediately asked them what they thought of the news, then current, that Hussein had been sentenced to death. A discussion ensued that lasted over an hour. There were many, many other such interactions, and thus the project began to function as a community space and social network where I receded and customers reacted to each other, the possibility of their meeting facilitated and choreographed through the appearance of this strange store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869661601-OAHBG4L4Q5VNPWACGMKG/0059_4d1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery After the initial shipment of dates met their untimely end, Al-Farez remained determined to stock my store, arranging for 10 boxes to be airlifted out of Baghdad direct to New York City via DHL. For three weeks the small parcel underwent inspection by Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Patrol, the USFDA and the USDA. At one point a US Customs agent determined that the shipment was illegal since we were “at war with Iraq.” Finally the dates reached the store and customers flocked, eager to try the fruit that had now interrogated and scandalized every government agency from Baghdad to Damascus to New York. A fruit that asked questions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869665289-61APRGHX7JBKVSUB76UN/0092_691-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869666697-SMU9FQTPRO8VLPZUVRPB/0095_ad1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery Shamoon returned, for a taste of what he called thikra, which means memory or nostalgia. “It’s for when you are homesick, when you miss your home,” he said. He slowly put his first date in his mouth, closed his eyes, smiled, and softly said, “this is 46 years in the making.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869663188-4FQ75F2ORDX695JTXWX9/0091_891-640x360.jpeg Return gallery When I told Al Farez how happy the customers were to finally receive the dates, they asked me to take pictures of those who had bought them. Here are a few of the many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869665424-IQ2UGWEORX6ELYN86OA1/0093_fc1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869666605-NL02P5A2FQNB8N4QX8AP/0094_b01-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869667526-PJHQ737UKX0D7JJMOBWG/0097_fe1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869655295-5LIGGW8RBNPP3KN11NJW/0003_3d1-432x243.jpeg Return gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435869670398-OQXRZDQ5C8GVKZRZYU2A/0098_4f1-640x360.jpeg Return gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/radio-silence-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597412049541-7WT8OR845DTSFQNTQ18X/2016-033+Radio+Silence-15.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411811448-EJQEAN33JVEG3LJN2BHU/2016-033+Radio+Silence-82.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411803488-CQG7K0BYOJL3KBL8UXW9/2016-033+Radio+Silence-136.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411808603-30DU10VASBK9GWRDV9CR/2016-033+Radio+Silence-110.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415090605-VSHXYNFVB9GSX7DWWRC6/2016-033+Radio+Silence-88.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411803210-9F93F635H1JA4ZKGBBVP/2016-033+Radio+Silence-123.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415093428-CLKFTT37U451X1YJ6XWX/2016-033+Radio+Silence-115.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415098423-0ECKRM22XAESMYI9SOCX/2016-033+Radio+Silence-47.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415101419-FMRGVB6EYX1LQGA99QZ2/2016-033+Radio+Silence-71.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415104408-DW9JZCHAF3AXA1I431AC/2016-033+Radio+Silence-133.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411814385-B5SYLS5QVV3IZ7XTI237/2016-033+Radio+Silence-81.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411815627-UQK6S9RPQKBQK5B30NZ1/2016-033+Radio+Silence-14.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415095998-D19DKWNPPWVS9X8BFK01/2016-033+Radio+Silence-44.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597411797055-NPWHX89R40XUKBPC889S/2016-033+Radio+Silence-143.jpg Radio Silence gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597412096063-2V0GRAHA0FVYI0S7MYF8/2016-033+Radio+Silence-39.jpg Radio Silence gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/what-dust-gallery-1 daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789863184-4JTFJKK3OKAUCOE4LWUY/whatdust01.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789855913-VKXEKGELX9IIXERB29WP/whatdust02.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789858352-Y0EP8ETYUHEXYQEM5E02/whatdust03.jpg What Dust? gallery The Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany after it was bombed by the British Royal Air Force on September 9, 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789858969-4Y5LKSIPYYSR7D5WTEWU/whatdust04.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789866224-FZ89L17RA8SYOE0PLSQS/whatdust05.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789870843-2T7HCAE037UD6SD616BX/whatdust06.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789872007-GW1AQW3NS0ZEFAQ8GWZP/whatdust07.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789888510-L3MK762QOOY2GOOPN43T/whatdust08.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789879491-EDF4Z34D0WJD2PDIGJ2Z/whatdust09.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789888268-OIHY60NDSJ1CA74E24X4/whatdust010.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789895153-R6KKF9XBBOGJ1A6K4PH2/whatdust011.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789899777-2XU1A4H3K4EI0VECS915/whatdust012.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789902096-CTLWOUYIK91E6ZOASM0D/whatdust013.png What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789907312-6ZTVBJEQ1MW23G58C2CY/whatdust014.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789905375-TGWL8QRKI29JQ83J52NX/whatdust015.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789908270-ZRG2X6E0ZCB6TWMNJJNM/whatdust016.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789915644-P1L6Q1HKDOVD1QDOKPJS/whatdust017.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789911225-CLV45XVPT4CQGYWQJH8M/whatdust018.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789912661-4MTKH4FA8TULA0EV7HIZ/whatdust019.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789918233-EC291Q6TACSWZQZZBO1V/whatdust020.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789924019-92QVGTKO959NP2978D8C/whatdust021.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789929066-KVM8UKIBUYJQQBOEJG3W/whatdust022.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789937678-EK1PA2IF6381LW9EKXEV/whatdust023.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789931118-J0XL3IR86RIHC2V5O6CL/whatdust025.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789931601-4MCZFIV7RG6OQWOEZCGN/whatdust026.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789937499-64H002ZCETP5GUXGHSE0/whatdust027.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789949905-CXZWENPO5RXLF6GGEK72/whatdust028.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789948523-36KNTYIP0DJP39KKNIHX/whatdust029.jpg What Dust? gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435789953548-1AVMBM0SNZS9VPP0HL98/whatdust030.jpg What Dust? gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/test-ballot-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239457-QZ2CGEEFMDHKM1PMSODM/0064_a81-469x660.jpeg Test Ballot gallery Newspaper declaring Kerry the winner in Innsbruck, Austria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239475-JX9SCV3MA7SES37SMGS4/0083_7f1-640x427.jpeg Test Ballot gallery Voting in Innsbruck, Austria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877239881-8JV6UQ1DZH47UT658HIA/0084_651-640x427.jpeg Test Ballot gallery Voting in Ljubljana, Slovenia http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/dar-al-sulh-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871966115-QJOM2LXSLDFVAIMYY5NV/dar02.png Dar Al Sulh gallery Jews were once Arabs, too. Their exodus from Arab lands is one that has been propagandized and mythologized by Israel, by the flawed narrative of Zionism, and by other entities in order to bolster specific cultural and political positions. Dar Al Sulh seeks to be a time machine, to reactivate a space when there was harmony, when Jews had not yet abandoned their Arab selves, before Jewish populations in the Arab world were assumed to be complicit with Zionism. The notion of conciliation is the central philosophy of Dar Al Sulh, meant to be reflected in the food and the conversations spoken around it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871966297-MVU8EXX39888ZP6M5GSA/dar01.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery My grandmother, Renée Isaac David (Née Shamoon), center, with her sister Marcelle, left, and her sister-in-law Leonie. Baghdad, Iraq, ca. 1940. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871974760-U7EHRHCHKVCLECU5H8MB/dar04.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery The surfaces upon which the dinners were served are from Jewish families who left Iraq in the 1940s and 1950s. Some are everyday dishes. Others are more precious, like the tray pictured here, which was used to serve traditional recipes in the Great Synagogue of Baghdad. Nearly all of the serving ware are small and made of metal, compact enough to be placed under clothing and smuggled—many Jews had to leave Iraq without any of their belongings— and sturdy enough to survive the journey without shattering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871985689-11LT4KHARQEZF7S97J78/dar03.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871981842-5DEKPX808DRDA0LMN7NC/dar05.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871988497-568J2RF4DO83YFXLHUUH/dar06.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871991276-DAQOVYW0RTTG8WH2KIZ0/dar08.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery The meals were thematically organized into seven loose themes to reflect the properties of each meal, and to instigate the topic of each dinner discussion. They are light and heavy, augmented by the five basic tastes, four of which were once mistakenly believed to be detected by specific areas of the tongue.   Bitter Sour Salty Sweet Umami https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872014934-0T97TPSY2LRSBRYA8HKE/dar010.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery Preparing Kubba Qari’yi on opening night, May 1, 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872025028-H2BG0DXRE1UJXRUMQO7Z/dar013.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872019031-TJMPAYHPA13CAUROF7KK/dar011.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery Dr. Ella Habiba Shohat, herself an Iraqi Jew, is Professor of Cultural Studies at New York University and affiliated with NYU-Abu Dhabi. Since the 1980s she has written extensively on Orientalism, postcoloniality, and diasporic cultures, while also developing critical approaches to the study of Arab-Jews, focusing especially on Iraq and its diaspora. She served as interlocutor and co-host at Dar Al Sulh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872028541-V7QDMRFJJZTBDEAEQAFU/dar014.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery Mhasha, a dish consisting of stuffed grape leaves, aubergines, courgettes, peppers, onions and tomatoes. Cooked and served on the final night, May 7, 2013. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872028738-JVQBBQMGE3O1PF3P92JR/dar015.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery The restaurant also hosted Tuning Baghdad, which provided a soundtrack for the dining experience. A project initiated by independent curator Regine Basha—our other co-host and interlocutor at Dar Al Sulh—Tuning Baghdad brings together a growing archive of rare video footage, audio clips, and historical information on Iraqi-Jewish musicians and the music scene that was displaced from Baghdad in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Basha’s father, an avid oud player. The last generation of Iraqi-Jewish musicians who performed in Baghdad are now in their 70s and 80s; they represent an era when an unusually large number of Iraqi Jews were composing and performing Arabic music. For decades these musicians were the teachers and beloved performers of Iraq’s traditional maqams and modern compositions on the country’s National Broadcast Station. Further information, including audio recordings and video, can be found at tuningbaghdad.net https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872037508-O7WU7OC5IGQBJUXZTEVH/dar016.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872034606-LE7N9QNVYON2KMYT1DMK/dar017.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery Dr. Ella Habiba Shohat delivering a typical Iraqi Jewish greeting before the meal to diners at Dar Al Sulh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872065044-1S3JSLRRH4YVSJNS1XBH/dar021.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery A single photo adorned the walls of Dar Al Sulh: Palestinians protecting the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. The image serves as a surrogate for others that do not seem to have been documented, of the Muslims and Christians in Baghdad who protected their Jewish neighbors’ homes during the Farhud, the anti-Jewish riots and pogrom that erupted in the Iraqi capital in June, 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872050868-INQ0HCFRIGOSXP4GJ89N/dar018.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery While it was impossible to openly advertise an Iraqi Jewish restaurant in Dubai—our signage instead declared “Cuisine of an Absent Tribe”—each night’s dinner service was sold out beyond capacity and in the end, more than 500 diners ate at Dar Al Sulh over seven nights. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872071976-K3VGUOC3T8DGWZL7OB1O/dar022.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435872046732-89195DMW90YB2OGTNNQW/dar019.jpg Dar Al Sulh gallery Two Iraqi flags hung inside the restaurant. The first one was adopted for six months in 1958, and was identical to the Palestinian flag. The second was donated by an Iraqi Jewish man who wished to remain anonymous and was a communist back in the 1960s and sent this message: This flag comes from the personal collection of an Iraqi Jew who was a member of the communist party in the 1940s, and left Iraq in 1961. “I was an admirer of Yusuf Salman Yusuf, aka Comrade Fahd. General Qassim was as close an ally as we ever had in the Iraqi leadership. Please fly his flag in Dar Al Sulh. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-ballad-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421340515-ILU2MHRHTNPB5P29WA5R/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.08.22+AM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421099601-R2YHFR3A1QWUS07P5VXG/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.12.36+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421092791-FZMAQTR781S9100B5INR/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.11.09+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421093433-1ZA7JS0OONMR3FQKVF9I/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.11.28+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421073844-SVB9PIVJ7QRH5TL58C95/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.10.35+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421049881-B8D8D3VNXJYUX8JDATUY/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.08.55+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421046809-CL6LBT88MOA3D6XKFABW/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.09.29+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597421064737-176IQ7PKX7T6K88JTWEL/Screen+Shot+2019-01-07+at+9.09.48+PM.png The Ballad of Special Ops Cody gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/minaret-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755417-GZAT0S91RJN6ROYQRV8M/0046_d61-640x505.jpeg Minaret gallery Minarets are the towers of mosques from which the adhan, the call to prayer, is sung by the muezzin five times of the day. The earliest minarets were appropriated Greek watchtowers or any tall architectural structure with an open balcony. Eventually, minarets were included in the overall plan of mosques. Today, the sound of the call is standard in public spaces in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India. In Manhattan, where there is a large Muslim population, the call to prayer, if it is sung publicly at all, is usually broadcast at a low volume by mosques, often at ground level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755948-PMDFKNK1EDOJ2NYVTKA8/0053_9a1-452x680.jpeg Minaret gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755972-1FM9VN78HVZSPG681G22/0075_341-640x429.jpeg Minaret gallery Clocktower Gallery, New York City, 2001 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877757014-RB7FO5A2V6A3BBX6IL8K/0101_8f1-495x640.jpeg Minaret gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877756869-J697M3503DGAPQ7XWHB1/0100_bc-467x660.jpeg Minaret gallery Battle of the Nations Monument, Leipzig, Germany 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755451-6TS5YI6RDJFOBU5LBXAF/0027_771-640x472.jpeg Minaret gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877754918-PY4TQOQ81J1H3H6DSH0D/0044_b71-640x481.jpeg Minaret gallery Enver Hoxha Monument (Pyramide), Tirana, Albania 2005 performed as part of the Tirana Biennale http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/climate-control-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878504242-ZPYKPSXF92HCA7AG9WBV/0099_851-640x472.jpg Climate Control gallery Most museums and exhibition spaces have a central climate control system for maintaining the standard temperature and relative humidity (r.h.) necessary to preserve art works on exhibit. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center lacks such a mechanism and, during the winter, turns its radiators up to 90˚ F, ignoring the institutional standard of 68˚ - 72˚ F. The dry heat of the radiators engenders a relative humidity reading of approximately 11%, potentially damaging to objects like paintings or prints, which require stabilized environments of between 40% - 50% r.h. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878503278-L25YNN2F8Z84O3VE3VPP/0066_271-640x480.jpg Climate Control gallery In order to lower the temperature of the Special Projects room to which it is confined, Climate Control, an apparatus consisting of ductwork and fans, incorporates the existing radiator system on the interior of the building with the cold winter temperature outside. The resulting maze of ductwork features a central absurd element: the continuous duct which travels outside the windows and then directly back in, visible from the street. An internal humidifier feeds off moisture in the air and maintains a relative humidity of 20%, in keeping with the standard for exhibiting artworks made from galvanized steel. While the system is adjustable and can maintain a stabilized environment for the display of even delicate works on paper, there is no space to exhibit other art: Climate Control completely engulfs the room. The result is an absurd machine built to maintain itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878503000-58FZQIN57961J9IJ2KYJ/0073_c41-640x432.jpg Climate Control gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/invisible-enemy-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790696133-9MI55AT9BKC39WKTLE9E/two.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597616424737-O14Z2CGGNFKOMDIROJ81/aa_2016_07_02_MR_TheInvisibleEnemy_Table-2_NickAsh_4_s.jpg%2C1000.jpeg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597616787899-CEAOVO7KIUMS7QL3ULL5/_DSF9933.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790695959-NVH2TYYFFB3TEGW0VSJO/MR_2009_21+enemy_tablette.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894353098-ZNLE1IUGNZOBZPLVZJ4B/MR_2007_Dagger+%28IM4307%29+copy.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894010264-BW1SR519T48169DIHKJT/MR_installation11+copy.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894119920-03S5AJHP9QB51F5CHRSU/MR_2007_Plate+with+Geometric+Design+%28IM14733%29+copy.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894401723-JSDESQZDF7CP371RA4JO/MR_installation4+copy.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790691476-F94ZA9RIR78RYQIR0P1E/IMG_1121.JPG Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790691777-ZOJ5YQL4JLQJCGG63N20/IMG_1145.JPG Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435790695252-5JUBREGDI51IOFP4S7WJ/invisible05.jpg Invisible enemy gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436894386289-YTQ0WLH98J4ULFTUONY5/MR_HeadlessFemaleMaleRelief+copy.jpg Invisible enemy gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/worst-condition-comic daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392057380-O5W0T3JGJGTM81KTQENV/worstcondition_017.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392057558-IVAROO0J635KB2SS809R/worstcondition_018.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392058397-RVG9U2EG7B35NC9ZE8L5/worstcondition_019.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392058183-KU1NEEZEYDJOIE54UNFG/worstcondition_020.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392058479-CRNC1NDJSMEUO98Q4UKU/worstcondition_021.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392059348-PZGM9CHSCYP0U496YZLT/worstcondition_022.jpg Worst Condition comic https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1436392059133-WNSXJXQD8TXBVR8CKFI7/worstcondition_023.jpg Worst Condition comic http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/enemy-kitchen-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161161-9CAJ5G843MIUEAQQG6WR/0026_7c1-640x541.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161804-7F4AKI8EL91QYAJAI0MD/0028_f01-640x481.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871161856-ZVEB4OC3SGD5393G6YWT/0029_d11-640x481.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery Making baklawa. Other dishes made with these students include kubba bamia, a meat dumpling stew served with okra over basmati rice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160841-0M06JFUO2YZ9AP1NBHGB/0012_b41-480x640.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery On one occasion, a student walked in and said, “Why are we making this nasty food? They (the Iraqis) blow up our soldiers every day and they knocked down the Twin Towers.” One student corrected her and said, “The Iraqis didn’t destroy the Twin Towers, bin Laden did.” Another said, “It wasn’t bin Laden, it was our government.” In this way, the project provided a space where the opinions, myths and facts that are perpetuated in a country during wartime could be communicated and discussed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871162719-BUG49ASJ5VVOW75BZ929/0051_831-640x427.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery After eight weeks of learning how to cook Iraqi food, the students at Hudson Guild Community Center proposed to teach me something about their own families’ recipes, since they now knew so much about mine. One student, Hyasheem, asked, “Do Iraqis make Southern fried chicken?” I answered that no, to my knowledge there was nothing like it in Iraqi cuisine. “Well, then let’s invent it,” he said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160734-LC5SMTYEMEYSW77CP0RJ/0009_5b1-427x640.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery Hyasheem (pictured) led the way and we cooked the chicken according to his specifications, using a shake-n-bake technique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871159910-76A6SRONSU19UO0CNVYK/0007_511-580x408.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery Cooking and eating a meal of amba salad, kubba, and debes wa’ rashi with students from Saratoga High School at Villa Montalvo at the Montalvo Arts Center in California. One student, named Connie Sheng, said “One day, it would be nice to know what it feels like to proud of my country.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871160023-DKVD0NJC5347SGFJQ8VV/0008_6b1-580x409.jpeg Enemy Kitchen gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871166620-9W6CKRZMPPXP2L9VFASX/em01.jpg Enemy Kitchen gallery Enemy Kitchen barbecue at The National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum on Memorial Day, 2009. Together with members of the Chicago chapters of Iraq Veterans Against The War (IVAW) and Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW), we cooked Iraqi kofta on the grill instead of traditional hot dogs and hamburgers.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871164925-Z2ZZRUFTU0I2ILZ1B9XP/em-02.jpg Enemy Kitchen gallery Enemy Kitchen staff, comprised of Iraqi refugees and American veterans of the Iraq War, outside of Milo’s Pita Place, an Iraqi restaurant in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood that operates the truck. Most Iraqi restaurants in the city call themselves Middle Eastern or Mediterranean to protect themselves from jingoistic attacks. Enemy Kitchen is the city's first Iraqi restaurant to publicly declare itself as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871164477-CTC3ZE73OA7KLM6LF756/em-03.jpg Enemy Kitchen gallery Detail of paper plate replicas of Saddam Hussein's dishes on which food is served from the Enemy Kitchen food truck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435871165523-1VA9YEHEPK39ZO17EA61/em-04.jpg Enemy Kitchen gallery Enemy Kitchen is now a fully functional food truck on the streets of Chicago that features Iraqi refugee cooks and US veterans of the Iraq War serving as sous chefs. In this way, the power dynamic in Iraq is inverted, as Americans now take orders from the Iraqis. The truck features the Chicago flag, rendered in Iraqi colors and serves food on paper replicas of the plates looted from Saddam Hussein's palaces in 2003. (add to new image - slide 93) The truck has made visible and audible the people on both sides of the war, as dialogue accompanies the serving and consumption of food, and the truck creates a critical social space. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/dull-roar-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876872669-UOM4FX1SO5FZB4C7HA8R/0016_6e1-640x474.jpeg Dull Roar gallery   The hush, like that of a football crowd awaiting the outcome of a crucial place kick in the last seconds of a bowl game, was ended by sharp explosions. As the reinforced steel and concrete building crumbled into rubble a spontaneous shout arose from the spectators. -St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 22, 1972, the day after the second Pruitt-Igoe building was imploded   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873834-20SMR3W2FBC8D70RC9VH/0023_f71-518x660.jpeg Dull Roar gallery 15 drawings depicting mansions built atop Pruitt-Igoe’s ruins in Ladue, MO are displayed along the platform (2 sheets of vellum each) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873589-1CK2FFG7Y57M8CIOJHQV/0040_a51-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876874101-JYM50O9IN9QANN5BKEAH/0041_261-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876875478-EK3DPQOTOIXO7UCO5A6L/0042_8d1-640x481.jpeg Dull Roar gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876874418-2SCDH9JWYU0A52T4MN22/0043_ba1-640x482.jpeg Dull Roar gallery Dull Roar marks the threshold moment of Pruitt-Igoe’s destruction and links it to several other deaths of Modernism in the form of discrete sculptural objects and drawings. The October 1972 carbon monoxide suicide of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss is marked by Positive Agitation, a Dreyfuss Hoover 150 vacuum circa 1936, which breathes in and out through a car tailpipe. Last Gasp, an inflatable structure attached to a hand dryer, connects the death of modernist architect Louis Kahn in a Penn Station restroom to Yamasaki’s recently demolished Pruitt-Igoe and his newly opened World Trade Center. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876873080-M9C80J8Y0P23JFT9BDKB/0024_b01-457x640.jpeg Dull Roar gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/may-the-arrogant-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303309-5KUQ6A1F3KPM6CYQ5KSZ/arrogant_01.jpg May the Arrogant gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795301415-OWIY7V9R44JW2M5VKUH4/arrgoant_02.jpg May the Arrogant gallery From 1899-1912, the Gate was excavated by a German archaeologist, Robert Koldewey transported to Berlin, where it was installed piece by piece in the Pergamon Museum. Missing bricks were reconstructed and included among authentic relics, to recreate the grandeur of the original. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795301815-30NFLTE74HCWGI28D4UB/arrogant_03.jpg May the Arrogant gallery In the 1950s, in the area that was ancient Babylon, the government of Iraq built a three-quarter reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate out of plaster and plywood to replace the original excavated and removed by the Germans. It was meant to stand as the entrance to a proposed museum. The museum was never completed. During the Iraq War, it served as one of the most popular photo backdrops for US soldiers serving in Iraq. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795302234-DD2U5G9O4CLNXL2BMMUY/arrogant_04.jpg May the Arrogant gallery Installed in the entrance of the exhibition space at the Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, May the Arrogant Not Prevail is a scaled-down reconstruction of the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate still standing in Iraq. Built by a Berlin-based team of assistants out of plywood and wooden beams, and clad with color-correct packaging of Arabic foodstuffs found in Berlin, the gate extends many of the material themes and conceptual concerns of The invisible enemy should not exist, but, just like the title, serves as an alternate translation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795302672-35IUZ7R4TOT9O5LOGIQX/arrogant_05.jpg May the Arrogant gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303030-93EGRLBLNMXHK85AEB4K/arrogant_06.jpg May the Arrogant gallery Instead of simply creating a surrogate for what has been taken away, May the Arrogant Not Prevail brings “home” to Berlin a copy of one that already exists at the scene of the crime. Seeking to be both polemic and poetic, the recreation speaks to the makeshift qualities of the Iraqi reconstruction: the structural timbers and plywood are exposed upon entrance, and instead of plaster, the materials are even more pathetic in the form of the detritus of commodities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435795303665-VGH9MB5XL9NQGSTQ25AQ/arrogant_07.jpg May the Arrogant gallery Like a child who has seen a ghost and reenacts the scare with a bedsheet, the imitation is made earnestly yet poorly. Still, the apparition appears, and haunts the haus with the hopes of conjuring the mus hus su dragons, lions and bulls rendered in the tiles of the original—to free them from their mudbrick grave for an immediate return home to Iraq. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/spoils-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870661846-1N5035KLVPA3ORWUU1JC/spoils_01.jpg Spoils gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870660922-5QUUVKQHGRSU8NFOLHOE/spoils_02.jpg Spoils gallery The plates were purchased on eBay from two different sources: an active American soldier serving in the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division—the same unit that captured Saddam Hussein—and an Iraqi refugee now living in Michigan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870664114-TQ0A0DL6T9VC6U7W6C76/spoils_03.jpg Spoils gallery The dishware was looted from Saddam’s palaces after they were destroyed by Coalition Forces. Personal household items such as plates and silverware were taken by Iraqi citizens, many of whom used them in their own homes—a dispersal of power.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870663349-YBV2ODSIABH1OSIBG6NK/spoils_04.jpg Spoils gallery Rare pieces of Wedgewood china once owned by King Faisal II were also acquired for the project. The plates were looted from the Iraqi monarch’s palaces following his execution in 1958, but were found among Saddam’s own dishware in 2003. It has been reported that Hussein was so obsessed by the young King’s short life and violent demise that he would make secret visits to his tomb, often asking guards to open the grave so he could gaze upon the monarch’s remains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870665426-GBEHOZM293HPNONHXS0L/spoils_05.jpg Spoils gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870664754-JEWZ8BFSXXNXOTVCF4LQ/spoils_06.jpg Spoils gallery A US Marshal from the Asset Forfeiture Unit inspects Saddam’s dishes at Creative Time’s offices in New York City following the issuance of a Cease and Desist letter demanding the “surrender of the Iraqi plates to the U.S. Attorney's office, Southern District of New York” and thus the discontinuation of Spoils. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870666600-AD89H6I63BEOZQSXN90R/spoils08.jpg Spoils gallery Video still of Saddam Hussein's dishes being repatriated to the Republic of Iraq at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and at the behest of US President Barack Obama during their meeting in Washington, D.C. on December 11, 2011 to finalize plans for American withdrawal from Iraq and transfer of sovereignty to take effect four days later. The plates traveled back to Baghdad on the same flight as the Iraqi Prime Minister. They will go on display in Saddam's palaces, which will be transformed into museums. Reports on the project's conclusion accompanied reports on the end of the Iraq War by various news outlets, including The New York Times, The Rachel Maddow Show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435870684616-YW8TN43DRW4ZKSPB6WJ3/spoils_09.jpg Spoils gallery Spoils appeared on the front page of The New York Times’ coverage of the end of the Iraq War on December 15, 2011. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/parasite-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212783-EFSIVDPBTA0LNIY49JEM/0048_291-465x680.jpg paraSITE gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214602-Y42C2SXO1TV8QLBK2EYM/0090_a01-640x427.jpg paraSITE gallery Bill S.’s paraSITE shelter. He requested as many windows as possible, because “homeless people don’t have privacy issues, but they do have security issues. We want to see potential attackers, we want to be visible to the public.” Six windows are placed at eye level for when Bill is seated and six smaller windows for when Bill is reclining. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213202-8UATQMUKOK7MA54RS1SU/0050_071-640x430.jpg paraSITE gallery George L.’s paraSITE shelter. Made on a budget of $5.00 from trash bags, ZipLoc bags, and clear waterproof packing tape. George requested a system of “ribs” that would be made of semi-translucent trash bags. In between the ribs, he wanted windows to expose the “meat” between the bones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212454-VYXNC5MJLOTBC44SFKSM/0032_081-640x427.jpg paraSITE gallery The windows are made of Ziploc sandwich bags and serve as pockets to display personal items and signage for the public. Privacy and publicity can be regulated by adding or removing objects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214761-D6FWQT0DB66IHPO8N2JS/0020_a91-640x435.jpg paraSITE gallery Bill S., Freddie F., and George L. with Freddie’s paraSITE shelter. An avid science fiction fan, Freddie requested a shelter in the shape of Jabba the Hutt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352214248-WFLXIFQAZKP0PT43S3V7/0069_4d1-640x422.jpg paraSITE gallery Joe H. using his paraSITE shelter in February 2000. Joe is a homeless man who lived on the streets near Battery Park City in Manhattan. In the 1970s, he became a contractor and was responsible for building over fifteen buildings in Brooklyn. He was diagnosed with cancer in the 1980s after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the Air Force in Vietnam. After forty-seven different operations to treat the cancer, the Veteran’s Association of America ceased paying his medical bills and he went bankrupt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213584-YLKI8SJP95OQJH2HAP49/0067_351-640x422.jpg paraSITE gallery Michael M. using his paraSITE shelter on 26th Street and 9th Avenue in New York. Michael was a homeless man who worked for the United Homeless Organization. He wanted to respond to an obscure anti-tent by-law being enforced by the Giuliani administration, which stated that any structure 3.5 feet or taller set up on city property would be considered an illegal encampment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352213944-O1TEZR7MMRUX36QQ2N3K/0068_841-640x431.jpg paraSITE gallery We designed his shelter to be closer to the ground, more like a sleeping bag or some kind of body extension. Thus, if questioned by the police, he could argue that the law did not apply because the shelter was not, in fact, a tent. On more than one occasion, Michael was confronted by police officers. After measuring his shelter, the officers moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1612631812902-HGOMSEKK2JJAAMHC53OI/paraSITE+definition.jpg paraSITE gallery The chosen title, paraSITE, is layered in its meaning, its derivation, and its understanding. paraSITE borrows its prefix from the French definition of para, which translates to English as "guard against". Para, when it joins its suffix chute as parachute translates to "guard against falling." The French word for umbrella, parapluie translates to "guard against rain". The prefix thus has a history in describing protective or preventive devices, or objects related to the tasks of survival and rescue. The suffix, site, refers to a place or location. We can interpret this word, both prefix and suffix to mean "guard against a site", the act of holding or occupying a space. But in the context of a nomadic project based on the ephemeral the interpretation must also turn to "guard against situating" or guard against "becoming a site"; the nomad moves on, deterritorializing themself. Looking at the work, one can make a physical association to a parachute, a folding umbrella like fabric device with chords supporting a harness or straps for allowing a person to float down safely through the air from a great height, rendered effective by the resistance of the air that expands it during the descent and reduces the velocity of its fall. paraSITE is similar, in that it too is a membrane structure relying upon the resistance of air in its use. Inflated by the exterior fan ducts of architecture, it provides a new space to occupy, amplifying the harsh reality of life on the street, while offering refuge. paraSITE scandalizes the above notions of safety or rescue while simultaneously making use of them. While there is an element of invention, of genuine survival strategy applied to this project, it also is presented as an act of desperation, an unacceptable approach to the problem as a design or as a solution. It is a project made at the intersection of problem-solving and trouble-making. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352219477-0P24DSA862X5A0HJPLTO/parasite03.jpg paraSITE gallery Step-by-step, DIY instructions on how to build a paraSITE shelter, printed in L’Itineraire, a Montréal-based magazine that features some articles written by homeless people, who also sell the magazine to passersby on the street. Published in January 2009, with plans to print the same instructions in Motz, a Berlin-based newspaper published and sold by homeless people, and also in a similar publication in London, called The Pavement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352212134-D0KK013XMW93NFO7FU7X/0021_421-640x440.jpg paraSITE gallery Design process sketches for a shelter built for Artie, a 62-year-old homeless man living near Madison Square Garden. Artie often stands in line for concert tickets at the request of scalpers. For his paraSITE, Artie requested a domed sitting space for himself and his girlfriend, Myra, connected to a lower, intimate sleeping area for two, “the lovin’ room.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352211848-EF2N978KKAX239H7TFHA/0018_1a1-640x424.jpg paraSITE gallery Halfway through construction, I received a call from Artie ordering me to stop building. “Myra talks way too much!” he explained, and asked that I make two domed sitting areas, separated by the lovin’ room. “It should look like a bra, or a dogbone.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352216611-WJD3PULI10FGO6WOQOYQ/MR_parasitedrawing1.jpg paraSITE gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435352220141-QZOF6NNHFBBYYK9MUMK1/MR_parasitedrawing6.jpg paraSITE gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/endgames-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170540-5RE2G5C1SR7SZHXZRXR1/endgames_01.jpg Endgames gallery 20 May 1976, Montreal—Final preparations for the Summer Olympics were underway when the United States pavilion, a twenty-storey geodesic dome built by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67, caught fire during routine repairs. The entire acrylic shell was gone within half an hour, the metal structure reduced to one more ruin among the abandoned national pavilions that populated the island. Nine years prior, the site had served as a global playground, virtually insuring the city’s bid to host the 1976 Summer Games.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170548-GF7VQA2WXEMBUZEUKCZV/endamges_02.jpg Endgames gallery A series of drawings demonstrate the lineage of events, ranging from the failure of Buckminster Fuller’s first full-size geodesic structure in 1948 at Black Mountain College; through the use of Expo 67’s futuristic ruins as the backdrop for a sci-fi television show; and onward to the 2004 demise of the Montreal Expos, the baseball team that played in the infamous Stade Olympique, built for the 1976 Olympics but never completed.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170675-R02Z1WFHONARV1GKFS18/endgames_03.jpg Endgames gallery With the demise of Buckminster Fuller’s pavilion serving as the central episode, the viewer is invited to enter Spirit of 76, a 2m-tall geodesic dome. The white dome seems the quiet and hopeful emblem of Utopian architecture, only to reveal a surface marred by a projected image of the pavilion engulfed in flames. Inside hangs a mobile constructed of celestial symbols physically extruded from various national flags, inspired by the protestors who removed the stars from the American flag during President Lyndon Johnson’s visit to Expo 67, an episode recounted in an adjacent drawing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170802-T9FZW294LL62DZ2DO02Q/endgames_04.jpg Endgames gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876170926-6VKHR70RKY8M0D1XVWWD/endgames_05.jpg Endgames gallery Abandoned sports stadiums serve as the point of departure for a series of drawings, discrete objects and sculptures picturing Houston’s Astrodome, built as the “Eighth Wonder of the World” only to be rendered obsolete by 1999—and to then provide emergency shelter in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Proposals for a Flexible Architecture extends this hybrid function by transforming models of the Astrodome and other stadiums into mosques, making use of an Islamic clause that allows existing structures to function as religious architecture. Point Conversion transforms an Astroturf playing field into a prayer rug. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876171024-S941DZPEPXGT37C1G1QA/endgames_06.jpg Endgames gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876171217-MVRTJTEGZ1SCJOYDLJFR/endgames_07.jpg Endgames gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/obdurate-foe-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455297990-GGZB6VQUBI62OF7748O1/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_015.jpg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455292247-8OH1015Y12T21PBYV44F/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_012.jpg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455301895-0NPXIM0MHZDFJMN5L7B6/Rakowitz-artifacts-Rampa-Frieze_014.jpg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455811523-GJ60FLF448SKXYEHBA4E/unnamed-2.png Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455778117-B66G399DPHARNRXST0O9/unnamed-3.png Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761672334638-1YRGZHFKZGNBAPUEZSPC/image-asset.jpeg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455309641-BCKBUOZXGR0R9XXAJIVA/RakowitzMichael_20170918_127.jpg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455317232-1MRYMG7XQQYXTOUBV34D/RakowitzMichael_20170918_126.jpg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761672430532-JBYLJ7JGHT5SO40BEGUY/image-asset.jpeg Obdurate foe gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597455895985-GBN90E7VN0AH5EM92PEZ/Untitled_50.jpg Obdurate foe gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/visionaries-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876593147-F8ECCJ2KTGZX3VYDEGBV/0089_d81-640x452.jpeg Visionaries gallery Commissioned hand-painted sign illustrating geodesic dome rising out of the rubble of Pruitt-Igoe. The Hungarian text translates as “The Visionaries.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592830-847NNAWAP6928W79CED7/0087_be1-640x481.jpeg Visionaries gallery Wearing a sandwich board derived from the temporary structures that display political campaign posters around Budapest, I walked the streets of the city. Removed from the body, the board transforms into a portable drafting studio. Participants were asked to enlist their dreams and visions as a tool to ignite discussion and critical perspective, in an effort to construct alternative visual possibilities that reach beyond the ideas of investors who are influencing the future of these sites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591076-ZMWMSZLUEALDI7RP2LSW/0004_f11-570x450.jpeg Visionaries gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592102-PHZ4O4SD81KZKRX952OV/0085_f61-640x489.jpeg Visionaries gallery Gozdik Richard proposed two very tall glass towers and a bridge to connect them. A resident of the VIII district, Richard is proud of the neighborhood’s rich immigrant culture that includes Chinese, Roma and Arab inhabitants. The tower is based on a lighthouse, the bridge a beam of light, symbolizing Hungary’s reputation as a gateway to the East. One tower would be built on Rakoczi Ter, rising at least 18-20 storeys above the ground, giving visitors a rare “view of Buda, the way that people in Buda can see Pest”. People would also be able to look out on Pest and see from above the way it is changing. Walking along the bridge, the pedestrian would see an exhibit about the migration of the district’s immigrant cultures as they themselves are moving. The visitor would then exit from the equally tall glass tower located on the “missing tooth” in Blaha Ter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876590772-R9X9UHYGY4HQBDMDS98L/0072_841-640x617.jpeg Visionaries gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591268-LGN4MLZJQ7WY9Y8J79G0/0074_461-640x634.jpeg Visionaries gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592350-ZRDZ9UCBTUETE4UZ9L0D/0086_1a1-640x474.jpeg Visionaries gallery Istvan, a resident of the VII District, proposed Monument to How They Regard Us. “You should just make it look like a big fucking meteor hit the building”, he explained. “The authorities sell off the land to investors with little or no interest in the opinions of their citizens, so it is like the decision comes from above, out of the sky and “on top of us.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876592815-CX3FMLPH9PL4VWTW6JLS/0088_af1-640x244.jpeg Visionaries gallery The resulting dozen drawings were displayed in Trafo Gallery in four suspended pavilions, inspired by Hungarian architect Yona Friedman’s sketch for La Ville Spatiale from 1958 (left)—a visionary project for a city that would accommodate the free will of its citizens and would be suspended on a framework above the existing urban space, avoiding any displacement of what came before.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435876591684-WYKIH0EH2Q0O6H6SJ270/0078_011-640x435.jpeg Visionaries gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/for-us-the-living-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418638740-HCVJLG0NQPJUN6KNSS5X/MoMA_For_us_the_living__021+%281%29.jpg For us, the living gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418672997-GPULE9PP3ZEJJF9U78AK/MoMA_For_us_the_living__026.jpg For us, the living gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418606656-I94RQWTEXW91LEDC2WJZ/MoMA_For_us_the_living__016.jpg For us, the living gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418580223-T9KVO0KR65QIT4LRZ4WB/MoMA_For_us_the_living__031.jpg For us, the living gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/lamassu-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562633849-XZZVC9QWJ5RCCVV7OPXX/4thPlinth2018_MichaelRakowitz_034+%281%29.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453887249-HOSUXVR9WJJ5LG9TPRYI/6Rakowitz_Fourth_Plinth_Proposal_Page_1.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1762202318779-ADFD2TPZE6BZMKL76HV0/Untitled-1.jpg Lamassu gallery Iraqi dates were once considered the best in the world and constituted the country’s second largest export after oil. In the late 1970s, the Iraqi date industry listed over 30 million date palms in the country. By the end of the 2003 Iraq War, only 3 million remained. To circumvent the 1990 U.N. embargo and reach a Western market, Iraqi manufacturers shipped date syrup to Syria to be packed in unmarked cans. The cans then went to Lebanon, where they received a label identifying them as “Product of Lebanon” and were exported worldwide as a veiled commodity. Today, post-sanctions, only one brand among dozens lists Iraq as its country of origin due to the exorbitant security-related charges levied by U.S. government agencies on imports indicating Iraqi origin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597454377886-TU4LWXAA7F5K0JKVHC2X/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+8.18.57+PM.png Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597454068438-IBTGKAGRKS2ZPHREZZS7/Fourth+Plinth0040.JPG Lamassu gallery Lamassu maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453753084-XJUWG80W3V3A1VDSFCAI/_MGS7516.JPG Lamassu gallery Lamassu unveiling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597453786558-TX4VO45QSH7D83UR86L9/IMG_9891.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562579116-IVLAE86FENJO5QC6PGTH/IMG_9901.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562588615-UHWHULBN9BAMJIQI838S/20181118_083422.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597562607236-E46IKKY8TWTK8TKN6Z8P/20181118_083359.jpg Lamassu gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597563344797-0M4SHAA5MVF5BGFN5TXE/20181118_083122.jpg Lamassu gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/landing daily 1.0 2026-02-12 http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/genzia-for-osita-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873059607-F86ZO284A0DU6XLJYBOU/EL_041613_027.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873152535-LOWUWMYMZTISK0KATLJ6/image-asset.jpeg Genzia for Osita gallery   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873058620-D2AAJPXBQKRVBWYYXHVE/geniza_03.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873065527-GPK311DB1OQO99M61OXW/geniza_04.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873074645-4SV5LM4S7CQO7X6FJ8MS/geniza_06.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873313745-V95GAEX8GU1K8Y1WYARQ/geniza_07.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873083555-4KQ9QLBY0OE5SGATLG1X/geniza_08.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery Broken Kiddush cup, Baghdad, Iraq, ca. 19th century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873093045-176DAVTQQEKZH5AHZXKN/geniza_010.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery The preservationist struggles with what is to be remembered or saved and what is to be discarded or laid to rest. At the invitation of Arte In Memoria, buried my archive on the grounds of the Ostia synagogue. The site is marked simply by the planting of an Iraqi barhi date palm, which draws its nutrients from the soil of the decaying parchment and papers interred below. It is a way of saying farewell to the things that need to rest, which is the hardest thing to do when trying to stay alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873100606-CGH4B8GP3M1YUH7IQMHQ/geniza_011.jpg Genzia for Osita gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-flesh-is-yours-the-bones-are-ours-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597415857614-ZAQMEL2CZW8WZB78N8L3/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_156.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416549424-USCWNY0RW7RLOFTNZWKO/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_119.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416713049-Q4E8QZ6VY1HTU30S1HZE/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_074.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416524341-B3D40D1XFQGAET0Y0GG3/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_003.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416522709-WV3EVYTG2GIIW1E3CPNZ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_001.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416530116-DUNIUGG964K4OSS1ZGBR/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_037.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416532122-TRZE30OG4RS1K76XV64V/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_042.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416535452-0PJ8WST58P2AWKW6OUIU/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_043.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416538853-XSGRF9WKKJTC9NM32CYF/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_060.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418174532-7T85LTKMFEKU3ITD3SNK/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_149.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418248111-W2XL1AV90BGZYQFIZ4AV/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_129.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416543440-C1SHM547EYFP9SLH6ITR/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_114.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597418166760-6A1QR31XDHBQTJ3TXHP2/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_112.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417017392-SKEPWGIETPIJTL280KFM/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_073.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417022181-CV9KOHS4HHTA7ST62DEZ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_081.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597417024999-UUMBEE4I2SX5L2TCCHLQ/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_111.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597416546368-ZARTVDH8XWJU460OBA3E/IKSV14B_MichaelRakowitz_Sahirugureren_117.jpg The flesh is yours, the bones are ours gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/nimrud-gallery daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458175276-NWR838HBQM0QT0QJFN56/280675_a53c4c151db9498a3d8c6d1668a46b41.jpg Nimrud gallery Room N, Panel N-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1762198427584-3YBQYDVP5Q4JLM93XG0V/IMG_0810.jpg Nimrud gallery Room G at Malmö Konsthall, 2019 photo by Helene Toresdotter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1762198163947-81U0ONR2TTH2L6POU083/image-asset.png Nimrud gallery Drawings of Northwest Palace panels by archaeologist A. H. Layard and other artists from Nimrud. Room G panels https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458331439-J9FVI2MHBIMGO8DBD76N/6_OI+Museum_Rakowitz_credit+Michael+Tropea.jpg Nimrud gallery Panel G-13 with existing fragment from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597629495143-AYCTHDGGP2SGVJMMPCLU/MR_TheInvisibleEnemy_NimrudRoom-G-20_PhotoNickAsh_Label.jpg Nimrud gallery Label of G-20 Panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458406548-17YBRMSSLSHDSOM2BGTL/0a0a7453-2.jpg Nimrud gallery Room F at CURRENT:LA Public Art Triennial 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1608241560357-I6T1MW9V2VBCBNEUDXYS/IMG_8757.JPG Nimrud gallery Room H installation at Wellin Museum of Art 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1608241546832-ROGUAO29T8I45MIW68KI/IMG_8755.JPG Nimrud gallery Room H installation at Wellin Museum of Art 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761673871887-A4IDJ5Q398K8PC6IYED2/image-asset.jpeg Nimrud gallery Room L at Stavanger Museum, Norway 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761674078023-IL5KQPHGQYWFEMBHPUMO/image-asset.jpeg Nimrud gallery Room L at Stavanger Museum, Norway 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761850283492-GLK5XR2VDG9AX2R6RB1U/043_BOB00179_high-res+copy.JPG Nimrud gallery Detail of Panel L-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761850349043-MJ7GFFXFSPMJ0KAUOV13/019_BOB00179_high-res+copy.JPG Nimrud gallery Detail of L-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458103927-IJB3C7LTMPG5DAUA02CM/nwpalace_fulltn.jpg Nimrud gallery Floorplan of the Northwest Palace of Nimrud https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/54955920-f180-4ed5-b381-d01fa351fe91/Room+C+intallation+at+Pi+Gallery+.jpg Nimrud gallery Room C installation at Pi Gallery , Turkey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c9112b2e-b569-47c9-977f-1c5a8914f397/room+c+details.jpg Nimrud gallery Cb-1 and Cb-3 details https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597614365423-KYDS0F3TTOVABTUVDOHH/Screen+Shot+2020-08-16+at+4.45.35+PM.png Nimrud gallery Room Z at Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597614292490-5SM7GNGPXXIRML025DEV/Screen+Shot+2020-08-16+at+4.44.26+PM.png Nimrud gallery Z4 and Z5 panels https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1608241555002-4GPROOH7A2YZKDXQBD2Z/IMG_8760.JPG Nimrud gallery Room H installation at Wellin Museum of Art 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/0e603932-f70c-4a81-b7cb-3e8084e24895/H+panel.jpg Nimrud gallery h19 detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/82de0f90-ea37-4024-8b8d-25a82170cf96/room+h-+panel.JPG Nimrud gallery h3 panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/156fe6a2-a7cc-46f9-8f96-f949d04b712e/035.JPG Nimrud gallery S-19 panel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848315909-054JAF2I3WD021B7PUON/Michael+Rakowitz_installation+view+%283%29.jpg Nimrud gallery Room S installation at Barakat Gallery 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/418086a3-ab30-4efa-b8cb-d3636c6fb3b0/_DSC1561+1.jpg Nimrud gallery F-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597458040689-AJLX60T7XBJN656F948J/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+9.20.07+PM.png Nimrud gallery Room F at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1761848411767-WE099X9OZCTCGGPX5FOJ/Michael+Rakowitz_installation+view+%289%29.jpg Nimrud gallery Room S and F installation at Barakat Gallery 2023 http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/white-man-drawings daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874282423-2FD255VYDJD6YPI57W4G/whiteman_06.jpg White Man drawings Vladimir Tatlin was one of the most important avant-garde Soviet artists. Expelled from art school in his youth, he spent time wandering through Russia, earning his living working on sailboats and steamers, and as a circus boxer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874282536-29D3RR9HNKX1JQR6WAFJ/whiteman_07.jpg White Man drawings The characteristic spiral of Tatlin’s Monument was translated by many in the community to be connected to the traditional use of the spiral in Aborginal Western Desert painting, often connoting a waterhole, or gathering ground—precisely what The Block has become for Indigenous people throughout the country. Figures like Mum Shirl and Father Ted Kennedy were central in establishing ministries and services for the community, and wharfies like Chicka Dixon and former boxer Teddy Rainbow were amongst the first activists who organized to establish the Aboriginal Housing Company. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874284971-75G3FNO5L9ESCFEPZWHS/whiteman_08.jpg White Man drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874284796-VXVSM9PHP1S1Z8O0JIFW/whiteman_09.jpg White Man drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874286215-0U3YT0NOKET7M2JWF55C/whiteman_010.jpg White Man drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874289325-JCGMN4B7A1XC3E5VVGTO/whiteman_011.jpg White Man drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874287695-L6PIOOT3O9IERIE09B8B/whiteman_012.jpg White Man drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874294155-VSN2UVQWXOHFPRY2N2LE/whiteman_013.jpg White Man drawings http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/worst-condition-gallery daily 0.75 2026-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513533-8H46M6D60JLG5N2KU1UV/worstcondition_02.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873516601-PWUO3EUK927VM924STGB/worstcondition_01.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873514117-T41L7VKLLP6C5KJCQC0B/worstcondition_03.jpg Worst condition gallery The narrative begins with the development of the hot air balloon in late 18th-century France as a visionary form of transport and transcendence that eventually was used for surveillance purposes. Jules Verne acts as a transitional figure, moving the story up to the 20th century and genius arms designer Gerald Bull, who as a boy imagined building a gun that could, as in Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon,” fire payloads into outer space. Working in the 1980s for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, he nearly succeeded—but he was murdered by foreign agents shortly before completing the weapon of his dreams, code-named “Project Babylon.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873515156-AVPSVYDQV6GHRQP3IMZG/worstcondition_04.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873516128-5LMPKL9NJT3SAUDA375F/worstcondition_05.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513052-UV3HCO1ROS6LLXEQG2L1/worstcondition_0.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873517140-Y57SP8CXKYXJMDQSK9X6/worstcondition_07.jpg Worst condition gallery Bull’s aborted project was not the only part of Hussein’s armory designed under the sign of fantasy. The installation also explores the influence of the Star Wars movies on the uniforms worn by the Fedayeen Saddam, an elite militia whose members dressed like Darth Vader. The paramilitary group was under the leadership of Saddam’s son, Uday, who was an avid fan of George Lucas’ space opera. Saddam’s design of the Victory Arch in Baghdad echoes the crossed lightsabers in a famous Star Wars poster illustrated by Boris Vallejo whose best friend, Rowena Morrill, authored paintings that were found in the Iraqi leader’s palaces. And, on the eve of the first Gulf War, the Iraqi Army paraded underneath the Arch to the theme song from Star Wars for Iraqi TV cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873518215-XJM46NFK21ZEA2U1O118/worstcondition_08.jpg Worst condition gallery The installation’s title derives from a saying of Hussein’s that appeared on the invitation card for the inauguration of the Arch, built in 1989 to commemorate Iraq’s “victory” over Iran. The original monument features swords cast from weapons used in the Iran-Iraq War and features 2,500 helmets of vanquished Iranians cascading at its base. A large-scale sculpture reproduces this monument in materials that connect with the theme of boyhood fantasy: dozens of plastic light sabers for the Arch, GI Joe figurines encased in resin for the helmets (modeled on the Fedayeen’s own Vader-like helmets) that surround the sculpture’s base. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873512715-65FF00X03NNADZ58F8PP/MR_LFP_Worst+Condition_+Victory+Arch+2.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873513121-IG7GTT5T27S9UT41CX3R/MR_LFP_Worst+Condition_Victory+Arch.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873518855-JYT70BIUKF87UM0WCELT/worstcondition_09.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873510867-7IGDI7QBAEDBYLPHHZ43/Fedayeen+Untitled+%233+-+view+1_low.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873511487-I7WV2K6MFCHB6QVHK7KW/Fedayeen+Untitled+%233+-+view+3.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873519411-NE3UM9B8S7MUAPXED2BZ/worstcondition_010.jpg Worst condition gallery The entrance to the exhibition space is framed by wallpaper featuring the hundreds of photographs found on soldiers’ blogs, Flickr accounts and other sources that feature military officers and contractors posing in front of the Victory Arch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873520703-1A4I4CCFCI3WR9DAGDR5/worstcondition_011.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873521469-ZRVK0RJUE4VP2PN84R8H/worstcondition_012.jpg Worst condition gallery A vitrine displays a Japanese Samurai helmet along with a World War I German army helmet and gas mask. These three elements served as the inspiration for Darth Vader’s armor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873523328-V9NXEDAARMQ2FHXA3LG2/worstcondition_014.jpg Worst condition gallery Next to these examples sit Darth Vader’s helmet and one of the Iraqi Fedayeen Saddam helmets, thus conveying a timeline where examples from the battlefield inspire a Hollywood filmic mythology, which in turns inspires armor found on the battlefield. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873523351-75QTP80K7G6JVEX6GF30/worstcondition_015.jpg Worst condition gallery The project’s final image is of Hussein’s face on the moon—the moon every boy and world leader dreamed of reaching—seen through a telescope whose shape is derived from Bull’s ill-fated Project Babylon supergun, and is constructed from the boxes of toy military models. Rumors of this lunar vision spread on the night Hussein was hanged, echoing rumors that had circulated four decades earlier, the night of the execution of Qassim, the Iraqi ruler who Saddam eventually replaced. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873524806-CX1JH530EMQ93IA5LDD3/worstcondition_016.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873524525-3GM709VA6ZG5MC40OXCO/worstcondition_017.jpg Worst condition gallery A free comic book was published as a component of the exhibition and was also printed in Bidoun Magazine, Issue 16. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873526143-L6BMAURTYTCEI94NUIIZ/worstcondition_018.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873526831-MYLMZJS45ETNG7DARZ8X/worstcondition_019.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873527019-PZ8U1AEZQC02HEV9HQ3W/worstcondition_020.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873528106-JCVD2KF7NE3LR5G4MB9E/worstcondition_021.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873529651-JSLQRETF8MJXBTCT3SSR/worstcondition_022.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873521957-3RDRYP19HN2I8CP45FHB/worstcondition_013.jpg Worst condition gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435873529819-K20EJU88L9GCTH39TO57/worstcondition_023.jpg Worst condition gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/white-man-gallery daily 0.75 2026-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874280510-3EUX5WBJM27XBYBUUYAJ/whiteman_01.jpg White man gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281670-IKJTD1LDH60O1Z7GZB4O/whiteman_02.jpg White man gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281543-6PA9B1JG4E0NFJCVVNNL/whiteman_03.jpg White man gallery Exterior and interior of dilapidated houses on The Block where materials such as timbers, wire and corrugated steel were salvaged to construct the tower. The tower connects the intention of visionary architecture to dream with the Aboriginal belief that the world was created during the Dreamtime. Their tribal Dreaming stories explain how life, places, people and animals came to be. The term was popularized by anthropologist W.E.H Stanner after an Aboriginal man told him, “White man got no dreaming.” Bereft of dreaming, of the notion of timeless time and perpetual creation, white man has instead the “Great Australian Silence,” a disremembering of such injustices as the government policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281865-XX21N1N1V6YBDIFWGJ2H/whiteman_04.jpg White man gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874281962-LQ2GMFBP8FH5JYII4XDX/whiteman_05.jpg White man gallery Drawings connect Tatlin’s history to the current architectural struggle to build the visionary Pemulwuy Aboriginal Housing Project on The Block, a struggle wrapped up in over two hundred years of racism and human/civil rights abuses committed by the Australian government. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874292672-CGUPGK1PUEXEZIKICXQ4/whiteman_014.jpg White man gallery Details showing the materials used, including the wiring from the houses (much of which was coincidentally red, black and yellow, the colors of the Aboriginal flag). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874294866-3ZUNSTSZ04JJOWKTTKCG/whiteman_0017.jpg White man gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874296965-X61NKNIIV9ENAN12MP6X/whiteman_018.jpg White man gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435874301830-93O6KO6N4YBU9W6AL7QV/whiteman_019.jpg White man gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/im-good-at-love-gallery daily 0.75 2026-02-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420451758-8EQXF4C65F2G1MQNQKG0/Michael-Rakowitz_010.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420449445-BXUF8QZD4NAPFT3LFV3W/Michael-Rakowitz_009.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420454689-MMKG8HPIQPL630D3JP6M/Michael-Rakowitz_015.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420455948-UC1B2W88FEAY3CWTZQWN/Michael-Rakowitz_016.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420428515-P7S35PBAXAHLKGCMC1LX/Michael-Rakowitz_008.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420445070-0EMBDSEBFGR354959Y4I/Michael-Rakowitz_004.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420441943-945ZVBNQHXFPM4GO3EBG/Michael-Rakowitz_001.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597420444149-S15KL480PLXYJ31U73DG/Michael-Rakowitz_002.JPG I'm good at love gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1597419495789-E9S2URPO3MA7CFXHM0OI/Michael-Rakowitz_014.JPG I'm good at love gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/romanticized-all-out-of-proportion-1 daily 0.75 2026-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441125-BQHVO9AS9SR4EZ1T097N/0071_501-640x480.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) Film selections were made by visitors to the Panorama who responded to a survey that asked them to recall a specific scene from a movie they felt illustrated their experience, attitude, or expectations of New York City. The first seven scene selections were presented from August to December, 2002; the second from January to June, 2003. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441705-1O4MQMGU5P8BF8Q50N9B/0080_a81-640x427.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877440292-7ZDUUQVUW6A2Y3Z1PVQR/0062_0a1-640x158.png Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) Next to each screen was a label showing a still from the real movie, while on the LCD screen appeared a live feed from the Panorama of the scene in question. Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1977) and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) were among the common cinematic references. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441491-RJHWTG7KLDS1Z9UFVYRL/0063_7b1-640x177.png Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441125-BQHVO9AS9SR4EZ1T097N/0071_501-640x480.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) Film selections were made by visitors to the Panorama who responded to a survey that asked them to recall a specific scene from a movie they felt illustrated their experience, attitude, or expectations of New York City. The first seven scene selections were presented from August to December, 2002; the second from January to June, 2003. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441705-1O4MQMGU5P8BF8Q50N9B/0080_a81-640x427.jpeg Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877441491-RJHWTG7KLDS1Z9UFVYRL/0063_7b1-640x177.png Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) Next to each screen was a label showing a still from the real movie, while on the LCD screen appeared a live feed from the Panorama of the scene in question. Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1977) and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) were among the common cinematic references. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877440292-7ZDUUQVUW6A2Y3Z1PVQR/0062_0a1-640x158.png Romanticized all out of proportion (Copy) http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/april-is-the-cruelest-month daily 0.75 2026-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/feef8064-e6fd-4413-b96d-2f95463590b6/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-27.jpg April is the Cruelest Month https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/e8773b9e-0fbf-49db-bdbf-914100a96e31/basra.jpg April is the Cruelest Month The formal inspiration for the sculpture draws from a Basra memorial consisting of 80 larger-than-life bronze statues of Iraqi soldiers, commemorating those killed in the Iran–Iraq War. The statues’ fingers pointed accusingly across the Shatt Al Arab toward Iran, where they were felled. Intended not just as a memorial but also a warning to the local Shia population, these statues were removed during the British Occupation of Basra in 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/3979ab3a-7f93-477b-a633-be2596e89a76/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-25.jpg April is the Cruelest Month I thought about what happens to the British soldier that sees these authoritarian sculptures being torn off their pedestals and thrown into the Shatt Al-Arab by the local population. Do they see themselves in that Iraqi soldier? Do they see themselves in this continuous history of invaders and occupiers, who will themselves eventually be removed? And so I began to imagine that sculpture underwater, traveling from the Shatt Al Arab to the Persian Gulf, making its way, accumulating barnacles and other small sea life as it went, and then eventually emerging on the coast of Margate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/9b77a7f4-b2cf-44e9-897b-ea6a5f76b52c/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-21.jpg April is the Cruelest Month I imagined the statue appearing on land not as an Iraqi, but as a British soldier, pointing not at some imagined enemy across the sea, but inland, toward Parliament, where the decision to invade Iraq was made. Turning his back on the sea, he would be in dialogue with the Surfboat Memorial looking out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/f741a519-6e0b-4c3b-9563-af12c720bf55/Daniel+Taylor%2C+member+of+Veterans+for+Peace%2C+with+Michael+Rakowitz%27s+Waterfronts+work+for+Margate%2C+%27April+is+the+cruellest+month%272.JPG April is the Cruelest Month Daniel Taylor, a member of Veterans for Peace, pictured with the sculpture for which he acted as both model and collaborator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/6cc88850-460b-4be2-be86-4cb8080b4c9e/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal4.jpg April is the Cruelest Month Daniel explained that for contemporary UK veterans, medals are not only proof of service but also a form of currency, often necessary to access medical care for conditions such as PTSD. Months later, when he donated his own medal to the sculpture, I hesitated and reminded him of what he had said. He replied, “I want to spend it now.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/fd4e549d-e555-4444-a83e-4d86061a7447/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal3.jpg April is the Cruelest Month https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/2f4b2ceb-53a6-4ca5-a19b-c1f62508059e/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-15.jpg April is the Cruelest Month Just as a sharp vein in stone is the document of geological cataclysms and traumas, the sculpture’s aggregate acts as a new type of sedimentary stone, forming around the objects, revealing them here and there, peeking out like fossils. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c89ca36d-b6f3-4fd1-a5ef-5b7f1ce40692/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal8.jpg April is the Cruelest Month At its base, I placed a plaque inscribed with a statement by the First World War British soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon, who, like me, had Iraqi Jewish ancestry—and whom I later discovered to be a direct ancestor: “I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, on which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/cd12a33d-ca12-4c3e-8705-0d6e7bc08520/April+is+the+cruelest+month.020.jpeg April is the Cruelest Month https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/09354f3c-9024-4a28-8db7-05c8b7a48fd4/Michael+Rakowitz_+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal6.jpg April is the Cruelest Month https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/919e596d-af71-48cd-88a8-d4ee12ff1365/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal2.jpg April is the Cruelest Month I wish to dedicate this sculpture to my Baghdadi ancestor, Siegfried Sassoon, to Veterans for Peace, and especially to Daniel Taylor, whose courage and love are impossible to put into words. Only through him and his fellow peace activists could an authoritarian war memorial become an anti-war memorial. Let this be a sculpture that changes its position for a soldier who changed his. http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/april-is-the-cruelest-month-gallery-1 daily 0.75 2026-01-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/919e596d-af71-48cd-88a8-d4ee12ff1365/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal2.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/fd4e549d-e555-4444-a83e-4d86061a7447/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal3.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/6cc88850-460b-4be2-be86-4cb8080b4c9e/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal4.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery The material used to cast the sculpture is made from a combination of concrete, calcite from Margate, and soil from Basra. Contained in it are objects and artworks associated with war and trauma, donated by Veterans for Peace and residents of Kent. Just as a sharp vein in stone is the document of geological cataclysms and traumas, the sculpture’s aggregate acts as a new type of sedimentary stone, forming around the objects, revealing them here and there, peeking out like fossils. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c89ca36d-b6f3-4fd1-a5ef-5b7f1ce40692/Michael+Rakowitz%3A+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal8.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery The title of the work refers to the opening line of TS Eliot’s The Wasteland, part of which was written in the shelter on the coast of Margate whilst he was convalescing from a nervous breakdown. Just as the poem makes reference to collapse, so too does the title, invoking the month of April 2003, when the destruction of Iraq was characterized not only by human casualties, but also by the destruction and disappearance of its cultural heritage. On 9 April, Saddam’s statue in Baghdad’s Firdos Square was toppled. The next day, the National Museum of Iraq was looted; more than 7,000 of its artefacts remain lost. The following week, the Basra corniche soldiers were gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/3979ab3a-7f93-477b-a633-be2596e89a76/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-25.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/feef8064-e6fd-4413-b96d-2f95463590b6/ECC+-+Margate+-+Michael+Rakowitz-27.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/09354f3c-9024-4a28-8db7-05c8b7a48fd4/Michael+Rakowitz_+%E2%80%98April+is+the+cruellest+month%E2%80%99.+A+Waterfronts+commission+with+Turner+Contemporary+for+England%E2%80%99s+Creative+Coast.+Photo+%C2%A9+Thierry+Bal6.jpg April is the cruelest month gallery http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-waiting-gardens-of-the-north daily 0.75 2026-01-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/7b62195b-654b-43e5-b338-9d5f0fcb0bc6/_JM20074.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North The colors on the panel are those that archaeologists believe were used on the original stone panel. The architectural footprint of the North Palace of Nineveh is recreated in the layout of the garden beds, shelves, and workstations behind the panel, on the gallery floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/39e012a4-e3f6-49ba-a8ee-33212530d83e/_JM29824.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/3391cf8f-ff4a-40f3-a2ca-0ff16567489f/_JM29801.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/a1e6b113-3cba-4e6d-a678-21dcc417fddf/_JM20022.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/28970354-356a-4681-83ad-f05a1ae3fb43/_JM20086.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North The Waiting Gardens of the North features trees, plants, flowers, and herbs requested by the local community of migrants, who miss aspects of their home landscapes, and wish to make them take root, whilst they wait, hopefully, to take root themselves. A hanging garden for lives hanging in the balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/737f0d6f-227d-476e-8372-32dc01a67d01/_JM29818.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-waiting-gardens-of-north daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/7b62195b-654b-43e5-b338-9d5f0fcb0bc6/_JM20074.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1770837925101-558U8PXDM331IHOLV4DF/The%2BWaiting%2BGardens%2Bof%2Bthe%2BNorth.011.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North A gypsum wall relief panel from the North Palace of Nineveh, made between 645–635 BCE, depicting the gardens of the Assyrian King, Ashurbanipal, which predated the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/89d7a3aa-58f9-4499-bbe3-656f3c24a3f9/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.017.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North The colors on the panel are those that archaeologists believe were used on the original stone panel. The architectural footprint of the North Palace of Nineveh is recreated in the layout of the garden beds, shelves, and workstations behind the panel, on the gallery floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/af813430-ad44-4c37-9da4-e5df33fe7e51/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.016.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/28970354-356a-4681-83ad-f05a1ae3fb43/_JM20086.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North The Waiting Gardens of the North features trees, plants, flowers, and herbs requested by the local community of migrants, who miss aspects of their home landscapes, and wish to make them take root, whilst they wait, hopefully, to take root themselves. A hanging garden for lives hanging in the balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/50b883ad-c0cf-4b41-9e6e-a9d3e299f3f1/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.040.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/4b398b67-dc19-4fa3-a100-c9323b4d1d30/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.038.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North The garden is meant to be harvested and features four stations: for tea-drying, spice-grinding, distillation of tinctures, and cooking. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/cd1f1f60-51cd-4e87-b450-f352ae5e0aa4/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.020.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North Many displaced persons are temporarily resettled in places like hotels, where they do not have access to kitchens; unable to host, they are perpetually stuck in the position of guest. My hope is that this space can support them to become hosts at Baltic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/35f16627-8ee6-47b6-af0b-1e8c41c7cb4b/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.027.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/b3a8b6b2-8a93-45d7-808f-32dfe9c31998/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.034.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/a1e6b113-3cba-4e6d-a678-21dcc417fddf/_JM20022.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/8bd478e2-f24a-45ed-bb8c-a9cd93344587/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.042.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/5def70bc-554b-4b2d-bd5f-c2c8f66c65cc/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.018.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/737f0d6f-227d-476e-8372-32dc01a67d01/_JM29818.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/39e012a4-e3f6-49ba-a8ee-33212530d83e/_JM29824.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/3391cf8f-ff4a-40f3-a2ca-0ff16567489f/_JM29801.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/2fa2b233-0fc6-4620-ab44-e93f42786666/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.021.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/bde19910-683f-489a-95bc-acf4125af9c6/The+Waiting+Gardens+of+the+North.026.jpg The Waiting Gardens of the North http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-monument-the-monster daily 0.75 2026-01-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/931fe1bd-31eb-402b-a484-6f2d2ec57f5e/114_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The monument the monster The word monument is derived from the Latin verb monere, meaning “to remind,” “to advise,” and “to warn.” It is from monere that we also get words like demonstrate, to show something; remonstrate, to make a forcefully reproachful protest; and monster. Monsters have functioned allegorically throughout history, often sent from above as a warning to humankind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/0dfe5ce6-dbd8-4d21-bca9-6b8eb743c0bc/036_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The monument the monster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/ab5dbcc4-a69a-4a83-84d6-b09f38802eb0/079_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The monument the monster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c7d79aa4-3dff-4f09-8aa8-57f4ad6ac645/013_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster An inflatable sculpture, Behemoth, invokes the redacted monuments shrouded in black tarps in cities like Charlottesville and Chicago. Perpetually rising and falling, it suggests the ongoing cruelty of deferral and debate around the removal of these monuments, and the desire to preserve them instead of the communities that continue to fight for liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/b1e0ffc7-7241-432e-9961-9d2d63ea335b/012_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster America’s public spaces are occupied by markers that function less as memorials than as warnings, sculpting centuries of settler colonialism, white supremacy and imperialism. Looking closely at the history of these monuments, it becomes clear that artists like Henry M. Shrady, who designed the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC, and the recently removed Robert E. Lee Monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, created work valorizing both sides of the American Civil War https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/2cf4de8c-dac0-4d1d-9d5d-e1b9bf03b2b4/008_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/9b91f813-a120-40b4-802a-89b06ab9d398/009_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/20246824-565a-4f12-b2f8-e38a9512db70/010_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/874a344b-471d-4472-a1d3-e8dcc26d8f7a/011_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The monument the monster http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/the-monument-the-monster-and-the-maquette daily 0.75 2026-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/931fe1bd-31eb-402b-a484-6f2d2ec57f5e/114_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette American Golem https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/ab5dbcc4-a69a-4a83-84d6-b09f38802eb0/079_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette The sourced sculptures are physically annotated with critical context surrounding their origins and historical trajectories, subverting the millenia-old connotation of spolia as political symbols of both triumph and warning. This technique is adopted to reveal the uncomfortable truths that connect these seemingly distinct fragments beneath their heroic patina. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/0dfe5ce6-dbd8-4d21-bca9-6b8eb743c0bc/036_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_details.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/04f6b924-90a7-48aa-b43c-94f63e7efcc0/006_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette A wooden bell form used by a foundry that supplied the Southern states with church bells, many of which were eventually melted down to become Confederate cannons, embodies the creature’s torso and recalls the plinths of so many public monuments. Jeffersonian mantelpieces, which would have displayed many of these objects in American living rooms, shape the beast’s legs, referencing the Arch of Janus in Rome and culminating in wooden lion’s feet from furniture sourced from antique stores in the American South. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/c7d79aa4-3dff-4f09-8aa8-57f4ad6ac645/013_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette Behemoth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/4a88d8bf-a21f-4661-9fc5-76eebfe8cabb/018_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette An inflatable sculpture, Behemoth, invokes the redacted monuments shrouded in black tarps in cities like Charlottesville and Chicago. Perpetually rising and falling, it suggests the ongoing cruelty of deferral and debate around the removal of these monuments, and the desire to preserve them instead of the communities that continue to fight for liberation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/874a344b-471d-4472-a1d3-e8dcc26d8f7a/011_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette A selection of drawings on layered architectural vellum, depicting various instances of “the monument that was” as a shadow of its resultant form. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/2cf4de8c-dac0-4d1d-9d5d-e1b9bf03b2b4/008_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/9b91f813-a120-40b4-802a-89b06ab9d398/009_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/20246824-565a-4f12-b2f8-e38a9512db70/010_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/b1e0ffc7-7241-432e-9961-9d2d63ea335b/012_RHG_Michael-Rakowitz_artwork.JPG The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/rise daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086048-ORYRJH22LCOKFHZDJVPW/0002_da1-405x600.jpeg Rise In August 2001, TriBeach Holdings, LLC, opened floors six through eleven of 129 Lafayette Street in Manhattan as the site for a temporary exhibition. Curators were each given a floor of the building with which to work. The exhibition, entitled GZ:01, was staged to raise visibility of this vacant building for real estate purposes. Formerly functioning as a large, multi-story community center and business network for the local Chinese community, 129 Lafayette Street was regarded as a prime location for extending SoHo’s gallery scene into a new area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1769535815353-31XLYKJP2C7EWOK96RAX/0070_0f1-640x421.jpg Rise Fei Dar Bakery is located on the ground floor of an adjacent two-story building at 191 Centre Street. The bakery is one of the most popular Chinese pastry shops and also functions as a meeting place for many young Chinese neighborhood residents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086031-H24TP7CICVXMU0OOY9WS/0049_a41-440x660.jpeg Rise For the opening reception of the exhibition, Fei Dar Bakery provided pastries so gallery-goers could taste what they were smelling. Throughout the duration of the show, Fei Dar received a steady flow of customers who had visited the gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878087145-E6OFT7OK32JLC764C77P/0077_8e1-426x650.jpeg Rise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435878086651-BCKHYU8FXKEDZS861185/0061_711-356x700.jpeg Rise http://www.michaelrakowitz.com/minaret daily 0.75 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755417-GZAT0S91RJN6ROYQRV8M/0046_d61-640x505.jpeg Minaret Minarets are the towers of mosques from which the adhan, the call to prayer, is sung by the muezzin five times of the day. The earliest minarets were appropriated Greek watchtowers or any tall architectural structure with an open balcony. Eventually, minarets were included in the overall plan of mosques. Today, the sound of the call is standard in public spaces in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India. In Manhattan, where there is a large Muslim population, the call to prayer, if it is sung publicly at all, is usually broadcast at a low volume by mosques, often at ground level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755948-PMDFKNK1EDOJ2NYVTKA8/0053_9a1-452x680.jpeg Minaret https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1770139472828-YJZINM7V25Q2QYYV4QDY/0075_341-640x429.jpg Minaret Clocktower Gallery, New York City, 2001 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877757014-RB7FO5A2V6A3BBX6IL8K/0101_8f1-495x640.jpeg Minaret https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877756869-J697M3503DGAPQ7XWHB1/0100_bc-467x660.jpeg Minaret Battle of the Nations Monument, Leipzig, Germany 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877755451-6TS5YI6RDJFOBU5LBXAF/0027_771-640x472.jpeg Minaret https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5379b2d2e4b04b1ccbd96e13/1435877754918-PY4TQOQ81J1H3H6DSH0D/0044_b71-640x481.jpeg Minaret Enver Hoxha Monument (Pyramide), Tirana, Albania 2005 performed as part of the Tirana Biennale