Past Event
An afternoon of discussions exploring concepts of history and narrative, cultural heritage and appropriation, postcolonial displacements and the rehabilitation of archaeological sites in Iraq. Speakers include artist Michael Rakowitz, Gareth Brereton, British Museum Curator and trustee of the The British Institute for the Study of Iraq, and Eleanor Robson, UCL Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History and Director of the Nahrein Network.
Part of Michael Rakowitz 4 June – 25 August 2019.
Michael Rakowitz lives and works in Chicago. He is Professor at Chicago’s Northwestern University. His work has been exhibited worldwide including dOCUMENTA (13), P.S.1 MoMA, MassMOCA, Castello di Rivoli, the 16th Biennale of Sydney, the 10th Istanbul Biennial, Sharjah Biennial 8, Tirana Biennale and Transmediale 05. He has had solo exhibitions at Tate Modern (London), Junstraum (Innsbruck) and MCA (Chicago). Rakowitz won the 2018 Fourth Plinth commission for London’s Trafalgar Square and is presenting his sculpture from The invisible enemy should not exist (2007 – ongoing), until 2020.
Dr Gareth Brereton is Curator for Ancient Mesopotamia in the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum. His research interests include the funerary archaeology and material culture of early Mesopotamia. Gareth was lead curator for the major British Museum exhibition I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria. He has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Iraq, Turkey and Oman, and currently serves as a Council Member and Trustee for the British Institute for the Study of Iraq.
Eleanor Robson is Professor of Middle Eastern History and Head of the History Department at University College London. An expert on the cuneiform cultures of ancient Iraq, she was Chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (2012-17) and now directs the Nahrein Network (2017-21). This research network, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and Global Challenges Research Fund, supports local experts to restore the intellectual infrastructure of heritage and history in post-conflict Iraq and its neighbours.
