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ATHENS RIVIERA JOURNAL
culture

I n a landmark collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry

of Culture, the Acropolis Museum, the Ephorate of Antiquities
of Athens, and the NEON Organization, the exhibition trilogy
Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures unfolds as a profound med-
itation on cultural memory, displacement, and the ethical impera-
tive of restitution. Through a series of interconnected exhibitions
running from 2025 to 2026, internationally acclaimed Iraqi-American
artist Michael Rakowitz initiates an urgent dialogue between contempo-
rary artistic expression and the enduring legacies of ancient civilizations
from the southeastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The trilogy commences with Allspice, hosted at the Acropolis Mu-
seum’s Temporary Exhibition Gallery from May to October 2025.
Curated by Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis, Director General
of the Acropolis Museum, and Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON,
the exhibition juxtaposes Rakowitz’s works with ancient artefacts
from the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient
Cultures and the Zintilis Collection of Cypriot Antiquities. Central
to the presentation is Rakowitz’s long-standing project The invisible
enemy should not exist, wherein Assyrian reliefs lost to war and loot-
ing are “reappeared” in papier mâché, composed from Middle Eastern
food packaging and diaspora publications. These recreated artefacts,
marked by deliberate absences, transform loss into witness and trau-
ma into presence.
The title Allspice, drawn from handwritten recipes by Rakowitz’s Iraqi
Jewish mother, encapsulates themes of migration, exile, and cultural
continuity. Allspice—a single spice with complex flavor profiles—be-
comes a metaphor for diasporic identity: multifaceted, syncretic, and
resilient. The exhibition’s narrative is further enriched by three new
commissions. Among them, A Baghdadi Amba Dictionary preserves
diasporic language and culinary memory through jars of homemade
pickled mango, each etched with terms passed down maternally. Else-
where, Study for a Lamassu in spolia overlays the body of the Assyr-
ian deity Lamassu onto a Cypriot sculpture, suggesting a symbolic
union of fragmented histories through the ancient practice of reuse
and adaptation.
Rakowitz’s engagement with the politics of cultural patrimony con-
tinues in the second phase of the trilogy. In October 2025, Lamassu
of Nineveh—originally commissioned for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth ALLSPICE | MICHAEL RAKOWITZ & ANCIENT CULTURES, 2025 | INSTALLATION VIEW | ΣΥΝΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ NEON + ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ ΑΚΡΟΠΟΛΗΣ | ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ © ΝΑΤΑΛΙΑ
Plinth—will be installed in the exterior space of the Acropolis Mu- ALLSPICE | MICHAEL RAKOWITZ & ANCIENT CULTURES, 2025 | INSTALLATION VIEW | A COLLABORATION BETWEEN NEON + THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM |
seum. Standing 4.3 meters tall and built from cans of Iraqi date syr-
up, the sculpture revives a monumental Assyrian figure destroyed in
2015. Set against the archaeological and civic landscape of Athens,
the Lamassu evokes both guardianship and mourning—an emblem
of survival amid erasure. PHOTOGRAPHY © NATALIA TSOUKALA | COURTESY ΝΕΟΝ, THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM AND THE ARTIST.
The final act, opening in 2026 at the Old Acropolis Museum, delves
deeper into themes of diaspora, memory, and reconstruction. Here, Standing male figure with clasped hands and inlaid eye, Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of The ΤΣΟΥΚΑΛΑ | ΕΥΓΕΝΙΚΗ ΠΑΡΑΧΩΡΗΣΗ ΝΕΟΝ, ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ ΑΚΡΟΠΟΛΗΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΗΣ.
the humble brick becomes a metaphor for continuity—carrying the University of Chicago, ISACM A12434. Standing female figure with clasped hands, Institute for the Study
soil of origin, the weight of history, and the potential for renewal. Ar- of Ancient Cultures of The University of Chicago, ISACM A12412A–B. Seated male banqueter, Institute for
tefacts drawn from diverse contexts collectively narrate the experience the Study of Ancient Cultures of The University of Chicago, ISACM A18108. Michael Rakowitz. The invisible
enemy should not exist (Room H, Northwest Palace of Nimrud) H-21, 2021. Middle Eastern food packaging
of fragmentation and reassembly, inviting reflection on identity and and Arabic-English newspapers, with glue on panel. 229.9 x 187.6 x 10.3 cm.
belonging. Ορθια ανδρική μορφή με ενωμένα χέρια και ένθετο μάτιm Ινστιτούτο Μελέτης των Αρχαίων
Through this trilogy, Rakowitz does not reconstruct lost artefacts; he Πολιτισμών του Πανεπιστημίου του Σικάγο, ISACM A12434. Ορθια γυναικεία μορφή με ενωμένα
enables their reappearance—haunting, incomplete, and deeply human. χέρια, Ινστιτούτο Μελέτης των Αρχαίων Πολιτισμών του Πανεπιστημίου του Σικάγο, ISACM A12412A-B.
His work affirms that cultural heritage is not a relic of the past but a Καθιστός συμποσιαστής, Ινστιτούτο Μελέτης των Αρχαίων Πολιτισμών του Πανεπιστημίου του
Σικάγο, ISACM A18108. The invisible enemy should not exist (Room H, Northwest Palace of Nimrud) H-21,
living testimony. In the words of NEON Director Elina Kountouri, 2021. Συσκευασίες τροφίµων και Αραβο-αγγλικές εφημερίδες από τη Μέση Ανατολή, με κόλλα σε
“Allspice is more than an exhibition—it is the language of survival.”> πάνελ 229,9 x 187,6 x 10,3 εκ.

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