The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist by Michael Rakowitz

E648446

The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist by Michael Rakowitz is a large-scale sculptural reconstruction of an ancient Assyrian lamassu, made from Middle Eastern food packaging and Arabic newspapers, commemorating artifacts destroyed or looted in Iraq.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf artwork
sculpture
artForm large‑scale outdoor sculpture
artist Michael Rakowitz NERFINISHED
artisticProcess assemblage
reconstruction from archival sources
basedOn Nergal Gate lamassu NERFINISHED
ancient Assyrian sculpture from Nineveh
commissionedBy Greater London Authority NERFINISHED
copyrightHolder Michael Rakowitz NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
creator Michael Rakowitz NERFINISHED
depicts Assyrian protective deity
lamassu NERFINISHED
describedBySource Fourth Plinth Programme materials
museum exhibition texts
exhibitedAt Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square NERFINISHED
Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom NERFINISHED
genre public art
hasEffect critiques consequences of war on heritage
raises awareness of cultural loss in Iraq
hasPart reconstructed lamassu body
reconstructed lamassu head
winged bull form
hasTheme diaspora and displacement
politics of display
war and memory
height approximately 4.5 metres
inception 2018
inspiredBy destruction of artifacts by ISIS
looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad
languageOfWorkOrName English
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity London NERFINISHED
location Trafalgar Square NERFINISHED
mainSubject Iraq War NERFINISHED
cultural memory
destruction of cultural heritage
looting of artifacts
materialUsed Arabic newspapers
Middle Eastern food packaging
movement contemporary art
notableWorkOf Michael Rakowitz NERFINISHED
partOf Fourth Plinth Programme NERFINISHED
title The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist NERFINISHED
usesSymbolism Arabic script as reference to Iraqi culture
consumer packaging as stand‑in for lost artifacts

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Fourth Plinth notableWorkDisplayed The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist by Michael Rakowitz