Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures
A Trilogy of Exhibitions Bridging Ancient Cultures and Contemporary Art
A collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Acropolis Museum, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens and NEON
Second part | A collaboration between the Acropolis Museum and NEON
Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures
Curated by: Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis, General Director of the Acropolis Museum, and Elina Kountouri, Director, NEON
Acropolis Museum, Sculptural Installation | Outdoor Garden, west wing
6 October 2025 – 31 October 2026
The Acropolis Museum and NEON Organization present the second part of the Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Culturestrilogy: Michael Rakowitz’s Lamassu of Nineveh (2018), curated by the Professor Nikolaos Chr.Stampolidis, Director General of the Acropolis Museum, and Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON. It is a sculptural installation in the outdoor garden of the Acropolis Museum, on its west wing overlooking Mitseon Street.
The work is a major sculptural extension of Michael Rakowitz’s ongoing series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist (2006-ongoing). The series consists of ‘reappearances’ of artefacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad following the U.S. invasion in 2003 or destroyed at other sites in its aftermath.
The Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) was originally commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. Constructed from empty cans of Iraqi date syrup, the sculpture reconstructs the protective Assyrian deity, a Lamassu: a colossal 4.3-metre winged bull with a human face that once stood at the entrance of the Nergal Gate in ancient Nineveh. The original monument, dating from around 700 BCE, was destroyed in 2015 by ISIS, along with many other artefacts in the Mosul Cultural Museum.
The Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) installation – situated in the surroundings of the Acropolis Museum – brings the sculpture into immediate dialogue with multiple layers of history and memory: the archaeological excavation visible beneath the Museum, the sacred landscape of the Acropolis above, the modern city around it, and the contemporary architectural space of the Museum itself.
Rakowitz uses empty cans of Iraqi date syrup for his Lamassu installation. These cans represent the once-renowned Iraqi industry that was decimated, as well as the human, economic, and ecological devastation wrought by the Iraq wars and their aftermath. Through objects, Rakowitz refers to the people who live alongside them and to their stories. The Lamassu ‘reappears’ and continues its role as guardian in the past, present, and future.
The reverse of the Lamassu features a carved cuneiform inscription that was invisible to viewers because it was cemented to the wall of the Nergal Gate. Here, in its removed and displaced state, the cuneiform is exposed. It translates as: ‘Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, had the (inner) and outer wall of Nineveh built anew and raised as high as mountain(s).’
The collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Acropolis Museum, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, and NEON is an in-depth conversation between contemporary works and ancient exhibits, highlighting eternal topics of cultural heritage, loss and restoration, survival, and the creation of culture. Greek antiquities and artefacts from the ancient civilizations of the southeastern Mediterranean and the Middle East converse with the multidimensional work of internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Michael Rakowitz, which lies at the heart of this project.
The trilogy’s opening chapter, Allspice | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures, is hosted in the Acropolis Museum Temporary Exhibition Gallery until 31 October 2025.
The trilogy will culminate with an exhibition at the Old Acropolis Museum.
Lecture
In the framework of the Lamassu of Nineveh exhibition, a lecture by Dr. Alda Benjamen titled Heritage, Genocide and Memory will be held on Monday, 6 October 2025, at 18:00 at the Auditorium‘Dimitrios Pantermalis’ of the Acropolis Museum, with free admission.
According to Dr. Benjamen, Lamassu symbolizes glory while recounting a story of displacement, destruction, and recreation. It embodies the bonds between objects and people – their triumphs, struggles, and livelihoods – through food, art, writing, and memory. It survived the genocide aimed at destroying the ancient heritage and the connections it represents – connections to the past that are multilingual, religious, and cultural. Lamassu’s recollection reflects the memory of a people and a community, along with the image of an invisible enemy, imaginary and terrible, but unreal.
Dr. Alda Benjamen (b. Kirkuk, Iraq) is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Dayton, specializing in contemporary Middle Eastern history. Recently, she was an AvimalekBetyousef Faculty Fellow at the Department of History and Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California (UC) Berkeley. Previously, she was a member of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the Smithsonian. She has also served as research director of a U.S. Department of State-funded heritage conservation program focused on Iraq’s marginalized communities, including Assyrians and Yazidis.Her book, Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space (Cambridge University Press, 2022), is a study of the intellectual history of 20th-century Iraq, based on extensive primary research conducted in situ.
Second part: A Collaboration between the Acropolis Museum and NEON
Lamassu of Nineveh (2018) | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures
Acropolis Museum, Sculptural Installation | Outdoor Garden of the Acropolis Museum, west wing
6 October 2025 – 31 October 2026
Opening hours:
Monday 9:00–17:00
Tuesday–Wednesday–Thursday 9:00–20:00 ***
Friday 9:00–22:00
Saturday–Sunday 9:00–20:00
*** During winter months (November through March), on Tuesday– Wednesday – Thursday the Museum is open 9:00–17:00.
Free entrance
Information: neon.org.gr & theacropolismuseum.gr
