The invisible enemy should not exist
2007 - ongoing
Drawings, Arabic newspaper and food packaging cardboard sculptures, museum labels, sound

Built with the assistance of:

Melina Ausikaitis, Yani Aviles, Loo Bain, Ken Camden, Chelsea Culp, Steve Davy, Maryam Faridani, Erin Foley, J. Michael Ford, Megan Schvaneveldt Frank, Andrea Fritsch, Daniel Giles, Erin Hayden, Brooke Havlik, Robert Chase Heishman, Emily Kay Henson, Elnaz Javanidizaji, Leonardo Kaplan, Frances Lee, Yiran Liu, Wen Liu, Aaron Menninga, Charles Miller, David Moré, Aay Preston-Myint, Talal Khalid Al Najjar, Auden O’Connell, Asli Ozdoyuran, Julie Potratz, Annie Raccuglia, Brandon Radonski, Jeff Robinson, Sanaz Sohrabi, Schuyler Smith, Min Song, Deniz Turkoglu, Mauricio Urusquieta, Geraldine Vo

Dedicated to the memory of Selma Al-Radi, Sam Paley, and Dr. Donny George Youkhanna

The invisible enemy should not exist unfolds as an intricate narrative about the artifacts stolen from the National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, in the aftermath of the US invasion of April 2003; the current status of their whereabouts; and the series of events surrounding the invasion, the plundering and related protagonists. The centerpiece of the project is an ongoing series of sculptures that represent an attempt to reconstruct the looted archeological artifacts.

Alluding to the implied invisibility of the museum artifacts (initial reports about their looting were inflated due to the “fog of war,” stated Museum officials), the reconstructions are made from the packaging of Middle Eastern foodstuffs and local Arabic newspapers, moments of cultural visibility found in cities across the United States. The objects are created by a team of assistants using the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute database, as well as information posted on Interpol’s website. This project is an ongoing commitment to recuperate the 7,000+ objects that remain missing.