Acropolis Museum: An impressive anti-war sculpture by Michael Rakowitz installed in the museum’s outdoor space

Visitors to the Acropolis Museum contiguous were met with a striking caller show connected the westbound broadside of its outdoor terrace — a monumental sculpture successful the signifier of a winged bull. On person inspection, the astir fascinating item emerges: the sculpture is made wholly of metallic day syrup cans from Iraq, each carrying with it stories of war, destruction, but besides resilience, unity, and hope.

The installation, titled Lamassu of Nineveh, is the instauration of internationally acclaimed Iraqi-American creator Michael Rakowitz. It forms the 2nd portion of the trilogy “Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures”, presented astatine the Acropolis Museum successful collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, and the organization NEON. The task aims to item the devastating consequences of warfare portion sending a connection of rebirth and reconciliation done creation and taste dialogue.

The prime of materials is profoundly symbolic. The cans utilized by Rakowitz are made from discarded containers of Iraqi day syrup — remnants of what was erstwhile a thriving nationalist industry, decimated by decades of struggle and sanctions. In doing so, the creator adds a caller furniture to the communicative of Iraq’s cultural, economic, and ecological losses.

This sculpture belongs to Rakowitz’s long-running bid The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist, begun successful 2006, which reconstructs past artifacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq and different archaeological sites pursuing the 2003 U.S. invasion.

“It is an grant to collaborate with a depository whose precise DNA is built connected the effort to reunite radical with their rightful heritage,”
said Michael Rakowitz astatine the unveiling, making a subtle notation to Greece’s ongoing run for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.
“For me, this is 1 of the astir important museums successful the satellite — a beacon for nations seeking to reconnect their radical with their history.”

The awesome 4.3-meter-long sculpture, present connected show successful the museum’s forecourt until October 31, 2026, recreates the past Assyrian protective deity that erstwhile stood astatine the Nergal Gate of Nineveh from astir 700 B.C. until February 2015, erstwhile it was destroyed by ISIS on with different priceless antiquities successful adjacent Mosul.

The reverse of the sculpture features a cuneiform inscription, erstwhile hidden from nationalist view, that Rakowitz has reproduced prominently. It reads:

“Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, had the interior and outer walls of Nineveh built anew and raised precocious arsenic mountains.”

During the presentation, Nikolaos Stampolidis, Director of the Acropolis Museum and co-curator of the exhibition, described the acquisition of seeing the sculpture installed arsenic “almost metaphysical”:

“It was evening, determination was airy rain, and abruptly the satellite appeared done the clouds. At that moment, I was looking astatine the inscription astir King Sennacherib, who called himself ‘King of the World.’ His sanction — Sin, Ahe, Eriba — means ‘the deity Sin has replaced the brothers.’ Sin is the deity of the Moon. It was arsenic if the deity of the Moon himself had returned for Sennacherib.”

Stampolidis went connected to stress the motivation of the work:

“Even arsenic our technological cognition soars, humanity seems to decline. This is simply a changeless and analyzable issue, peculiarly for the regions of the East and the Eastern Mediterranean. I anticipation we tin crook walls into bridges — erstwhile we deliberation of the radical to whom the Lamassu belongs, those who fled warfare successful Iraq, Syria, oregon contiguous from the genocide successful Palestine. I anticipation this enactment brings immoderate sweetness to the tongues of those who whitethorn invited them arsenic caller neighbors.”

Elena Kountouri, co-curator of the accumulation and manager of NEON, added:

“In this trilogy, Michael Rakowitz highlights the value of different cultures. Rather than focusing solely connected the quality of Classical Greece, we instrumentality a measurement further — utilizing the ocular connection and sculptural contented of different civilization to explicit cosmopolitan and timeless quality ideas.”

Finally, arsenic portion of the accumulation program, a lecture titled “Heritage, Genocide, and Memory” volition beryllium held connected Monday, October 6, 2025, astatine 6:00 p.m. successful the Acropolis Museum Auditorium. The speech volition beryllium delivered by Dr. Alda Benjamen, Assistant Professor of History astatine the University of Dayton and specializer successful the modern past of the Middle East. Admission volition beryllium escaped to the public.