Michael Rakowitz:
Michael Rakowitz:

Author: Michael Rakowitz

Publisher: Delmonico Books

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781636810256

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On a sculptural recreation of a room from an ancient Iraqi palace, in the wake of lootings by Western archaeologists and ISIS Using Arab-language newspapers and wrappers from food products imported from the Middle East, Iraqi American artist Michael Rakowitz (born 1973) has recreated to scale Room H from the Northwest Palace of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Kalhu). Part of a reception suite, Room H was originally lined with seven-foot-tall carved stone reliefs, including an inscription detailing Ashurnasirpal II's achievements and winged male figures, many of which have been removed by Western archaeologists over the last 150 years. Here, Rakowitz has "reappeared" only those panels that were in situ in Room H when the remains of the palace were destroyed by the jihadist group the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015. Areas from which the reliefs had already been removed by 19th-century archaeologists are left blank, resulting in what Rakowitz calls "a palimpsest of different moments of removal."

The British Museum’s Excavations at Nineveh, 1846–1855
The British Museum’s Excavations at Nineveh, 1846–1855

Author: Geoffrey Turner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-10-12

Total Pages: 814

ISBN-13: 9004435379

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Geoffrey Turner's definitive study of the mid-19th century excavations by the British Museum at the Assyrian site of Nineveh documents the complete history of these excavations and provides detailed reconstructions of the architecture and sculpture in the palace of Sennacherib.

Museums Matter
Museums Matter

Author: James Cuno

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-12-15

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 0226126803

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The concept of an encyclopedic museum was born of the Enlightenment, a manifestation of society’s growing belief that the spread of knowledge and the promotion of intellectual inquiry were crucial to human development and the future of a rational society. But in recent years, museums have been under attack, with critics arguing that they are little more than relics and promoters of imperialism. Could it be that the encyclopedic museum has outlived its usefulness? With Museums Matter, James Cuno, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, replies with a resounding “No!” He takes us on a brief tour of the modern museum, from the creation of the British Museum—the archetypal encyclopedic collection—to the present, when major museums host millions of visitors annually and play a major role in the cultural lives of their cities. Along the way, Cuno acknowledges the legitimate questions about the role of museums in nation-building and imperialism, but he argues strenuously that even a truly national museum like the Louvre can’t help but open visitors’ eyes and minds to the wide diversity of world cultures and the stunning art that is our common heritage. Engaging with thinkers such as Edward Said and Martha Nussbaum, and drawing on examples from the politics of India to the destruction of the Bramiyan Buddhas to the history of trade and travel, Cuno makes a case for the encyclopedic museum as a truly cosmopolitan institution, promoting tolerance, understanding, and a shared sense of history—values that are essential in our ever more globalized age. Powerful, passionate, and to the point, Museums Matter is the product of a lifetime of working in and thinking about museums; no museumgoer should miss it.