A story based on history, transmitted by American-Iraqi artist Michael Rakovitz, at the Jameel Center for the Arts in Dubai, through his first exhibition in the Middle East and Asia, as he works to revive the monuments that were looted in Iraq through multimedia installation works, in an attempt to collect what was broken inside The souls of the two sons of Mesopotamia, as well as what was destroyed and looted from history.
The artist's work is displayed along the first and second floors in "Jamil Dubai", as it presents eight art installations that took him two decades. Organized by the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin, and the White Chapel Gallery, London, in cooperation with the Jameel Center, will run until November 22.
The hidden enemy
The exhibition includes the multifaceted installation artwork: "The Hidden Enemy Shouldn't Be Found," in which Rakovitz explores the artifacts that were destroyed and looted from Iraq, by reconstructing those artifacts or works of natural size using the familiar food packages, which are derived from the heritage of the Middle East diaspora. In the United States and other parts of the world.
It also includes a room devoted to listening to the radio series on the work of "separation", which is the broader project through which the artist tells the story of the Beatles' disintegration, and how this event compares to the collapse of the Arab national project.
In addition to the work "The body is yours and the bones are ours", which is a one-room art installation of building facades built in the style of modern art.
A lot of experimentation
For his part, Rakovitz told «Emirates Today» that «the exhibition took nearly 20 years of work, as it is a retrospective exhibition, and it carries a lot of experimentation to know how to complete the experience over the years, as it presents a group of pieces that have been lost from museums, as can be said "It is characterized by slow work. A lot of work took years of work." He added: "The materials used in the works can be found everywhere, papers and stickers, and therefore the return to the used things comes as an expression of the meaning of displacement, and everything that happened in Iraq years ago, and how many left this country."
On his relationship with Iraq, he made it clear that although he lived throughout his life in America, this relationship was carved from history and from the family, so his mother and grandmother always told him about Iraq and Baghdad, as well as the cooking and food that expresses the country, which greatly influenced him, pointing out that he did not He learns Arabic, as his mother and grandmother's secret language remained.
Rakovitz noted that the projects he is carrying out are collecting broken pieces and not only those in museums that have been looted, but rather broken in the hearts of Iraqis to express an important thing, which is that Iraqis are still fighting for life.
He stated that he does not try to compensate through art what is broken, so what he is trying to present is like a ghost, and the ghost appears and disappears, and these actions are not a compensation for what was lost, but it draws attention.
The latest business
For his belief in the role of art as a catalyst for public debate, Michael Rakovitz has worked on a series of public art projects, most notably Parasite, an inflatable structure that is easy to build for the homeless to sleep in. In addition to "enemy kitchen", which is a workshop and food trucks serving Iraqi food in the streets of American cities. As for his latest public artwork, he stated that it is represented by "Lamasu", which is a restoration and formation of a winged Assyrian bull with a human head destroyed by "ISIS" in 2015, and the project was commissioned to be displayed on the fourth stage in the Trafalgar Square in London.
Creative biography
Michael Rakovitz was born in 1963 and lives in Chicago. He organized several individual exhibitions, participated in several group exhibitions, and won the 2020 award from the "Publisher" on the art of sculptures, in appreciation of his vision on the impact of sculptures in light of political and humanitarian crises.
Rakovitz is a sculptor, historical investigator, and sometimes chef, as his works are distinguished by their deep research content and their harmony with the social dimensions of artistic practice. He works through the lenses of architecture, monuments, and food in search of personal, social, and physical dates, and linking different stories, in what appears to be a quest across time and space. It also cares about pop culture, and how to use it to achieve common cultural narratives.
- « The exhibition took 20 years of work, and the business is not for compensation which was lost in Iraq».
- The artist is re-exploring artifacts destroyed and looted from Iraq, by rebuilding them.