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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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After seeing the current ROM exhibition Mesopotamia: Inventing Our World, showcasing famous artifacts from the British Museum (clay tablets with cuneiform - including Epic of Gilgamesh! - more on this later), I have been thinking more about the looting of the National Museum of Iraq during the American occupation.
Many of the obejcts from the early 19th century English and US excavations in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) were divided up between the British Museum, The Penn Museum in Philadelphia, and the government of Iraq (also Berlin and Chicago). One video in the ROM exhibition talked a little about the history of the archaeology from a Western perspective. This was projected next to a vitrine with an English, Victorian necklace made from Sumerian cylinder seals and a Victorian painting of an English woman wearing similar jewelery. That was a bit chilling. I'm glad they included it. (UPDATE: VB corrects me. It was a portrait of a woman wearing the exact necklace and she was married one of the archaeologists, who made it for her.) The exhibition at the ROM is billed as "extraordinary treasures of Sumer, Assyria and Babylon from the British Museum," but it does have objects from other museums as well including, of course, things from the ROM's collection, such as a Striding Lion from the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. The show also has the magnificent Head of a Man from Nineveh, which belongs to the Iraq National Museum.
Head of a Man, c.2300-2200 BCE This is probably supposed to be Sargon of Akkad, a powerful ruler. The damage to the head was inflicted intentionally thousands of years ago, probably by somebody making a political statement. |
Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, after looting and destruction, 2003
Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, after restoration, 2009
WARNING: this song is kind of MOR awful. Mute key recommended.
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I think iconoclasm is interesting. It's been an issue for any monotheistic religion that wants to distinguish itself from paganism.
Crucifixion and Iconoclasts, Chludov Psalter, mid 9th century This image is a page from a Medieval book of Christian parables, made on vellum. There is an illustration from a scene of the crucifixion, when people tormented Jesus on the cross by dabbing vinegar into his wounds. Below is an image of a iconoclast destroying an image of Jesus by painting over it. This work refers back to a Christian campaign during Byzantine era banning the use of icons and ordering their destruction. The psalter makes a harsh statement about iconoclasts by comparing them to Jesus’ tormentors. |
Guest Post: Leiflet drawing
This is my drawing of Draw Me a Picture (2007) by Steven Yazzie, currently showing in the group exhibit Sakahan: International Indigenous Art at the National Gallery, Ottawa.
From the dashboard-mounted easel in his art car, the artist drew the Monument Valley as he careened through the winding hills. Among the brilliant works being shown at Sakahan, this piece jumped out for its immersive approach to re-figuring landscape and relationships with place. Sakahan is a must see show, on until September 2, 2013.
Credit Card Curation: Manuel Fernández
For the closing reception of my solo exhibition 'The Axis of Something', I have curated a group projection event:
CLUSTERFUCK ZOO at Transfer Gallery, 1030 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, New York.
Saturday July 13th, 7:00 - 11:00 pm.
"Clusterfuck Zoo”, an evening of animated GIF projections and alcohol, will focus on animal otherness, charismatic mega-fauna fights
and cross-species romance (always the romance). Are Unicorns animals? (yes) Does road-kill count (yes)
Featuring GIFs from: Alma Alloro, Anthony Antonellis, LaTurbo Avedon, Andrew Benson, Max Capacity, Jon Cates,
Gaby Cepeda, Jennifer Chan, Jesse Darling, Theodore Darst, Leanne Eisen, Christina Entcheva, Manuel Fernández,
Paul Flannery, Dafna Ganani, Carla Gannis, Emilio Gomariz, Alexandra Gorczynski, Lilly Handley, Adam Harms,
Kevin Heckart, Mattie Hillock, Faith Holland, Georges Jacotey, Nicole Killian, Hyo Myoung Kim, Rollin Leonard,
Michael Manning, Claudia Maté, Sally McKay, Rosa Menkman, Rea McNamara & Tony Halmos, A Bill Miller, Rich Oglesby,
Esteban Ottaso, Eva Papamargariti, Niko Princen, Dylan Romer, Carlos Sáez, Alfredo Salazar–Caro, Travess Smalley,
Miyö Van Stenis, Tristan Stevens, Yoshi Sodeoka, Daniel Temkin, Carolyn Tripp, Rodell Warner, Angela Washko,
Sarah Weiss, V5MT, Matthew Williamson and Giselle Zantonyl